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Job Creation.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 July 2004

Wednesday, 7 July 2004

Questions (153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160)

Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

149 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the job creation strategy for the north-west is proving successful, particularly for north east Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20662/04]

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Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

153 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position in relation to job creation and job retention in the north-west region in particular in Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20666/04]

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Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

154 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the policy efforts being made to assist in attracting industry to the north-west region, in particular to Inishowen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20667/04]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 149, 153 and 154 together.

In recent months, I have met with delegations from the Donegal County Development Board and from IBEC north-west to discuss employment and related issues in Donegal and the north-west region in general. As a result, I have arranged for the expert skills group in Forfas to carry out research on the labour market needs of the area. The research work began last month and I expect that a report will be available in October.

Over the last few years, IDA Ireland has secured new investment for the north-west, including Donegal from companies such as Abbott Laboratories, MBNA, Prumerica, PacifiCare and Keith Prowse in Buncrana. All of these companies are recruiting at present. Enterprise Ireland has been very active in supporting the development of enterprise space in the north-west. A total of 24 Community Enterprise Centres have been funded in the region including ten in Donegal. In addition, ten companies in the north-west region, including five in Donegal, have been approved for funding under Enterprise Ireland's competitiveness fund.

The development agencies continue to try to source new investment for Donegal and are committed to playing their part in the development of the north-west region by maintaining the maximum number of existing jobs and by attracting new investment into the region. The recently announced decentralisation programme will also facilitate economic development in the area.

Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

150 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress to date in achieving the aims within the Donegal task force report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20663/04]

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Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

151 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Donegal task force initiative report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20664/04]

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Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

156 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has satisfied herself that the employment agencies are achieving the employment goals of the Donegal employment initiative task force; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20669/04]

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I propose to take Questions 150, 151 and 156 together.

The monitoring and implementation of the recommendations of the Donegal task force report have been allocated to the Donegal County Development Board. The county development board completed a ten year strategy for the development of the county and this was launched in 2002. The current focus of the county development board is on progressing a number of key economic infrastructure projects in the county. The priority action areas are roads, water, telecoms including broadband, air access and energy, both electricity and gas. Progress in these areas is important in attracting further new investment into the county. All of these issues were discussed at my last meeting with the Donegal County Development Board and I am continuing to keep in touch with developments in these areas.

The industrial development agencies continue to try and secure new investment for Donegal and are committed to playing their part in the future development of the county by attracting new investment into Donegal. These agencies, together with FÁS, are all represented on the county development board. Finally, the Government and the development agencies are committed to ensuring balanced regional development particularly through the implementation of the national spatial strategy and the recently announced decentralisation programme.

Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

152 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the unemployment statistics on County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20665/04]

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Cecilia Keaveney

Question:

155 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the initiatives that are underway to address the unemployment statistics in the north-west region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20668/04]

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I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 155 together.

According to the latest quarterly national household survey published by the Central Statistics Office on 16 June 2004, unemployment in the border area is at 5.4%. The corresponding figure this time last year was 6.2%. The live register figures for June 2004 show that in the north-west region, numbers decreased by more than 7% against a national average decrease of 5%. The Donegal live register rate decreased by 5% between June 2003 and June 2004, down from 10,680 to 10,146. Although the live register is not a true record of the level of unemployment, as it includes people who are not available for work, it is a useful indicator of current employment trends. These statistics indicate that the actions being taken by the industrial development agencies are impacting positively on Donegal and the north-west region in general.

Support for job creation is a day to day operational matter for the industrial development agencies. Job creation and job losses are a feature of economic development worldwide as various sectors expand and contract in response to market demand for goods and services, competitive forces, restructuring and technological change. In the case of redundancies or lay-offs the employment services division of FÁS provides a full service to the unemployed job seeker. This service is offered by FÁS through its network of employment services offices and clinics. It consists of matching suitable people to job vacancies, providing guidance interviews and placement on suitable training courses. In addition, FÁS north-west region has two training centres in Donegal, located in Letterkenny and Gweedore, delivering apprenticeship and specific skills courses. The expert skills group in Forfas is currently engaged in carrying out research on the labour market needs of the north-west. In addition, the enterprise strategy group, which I established in July, 2003, was given the task of developing strategic policy recommendations for enterprise in Ireland.

I am satisfied that a combined agency approach, including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the county enterprise boards, together with the involvement of local business communities, will address the job creation needs.

Questions Nos. 153 and 154 answered with Question No. 149.
Question No. 155 answered with QuestionNo. 152.
Question No. 156 answered with questionNos. 150 and 151.
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