Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
465 Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans for job creation in County Kerry in 2012; the action being taken by the Industrial Development Agency regarding job creation in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19128/12]
View answerThe Action Plan for Jobs has set a target of supporting the creation of 100,000 net new jobs over the period 2012 to 2016, with the longer term objective of having 2 million people at work by 2020. In order to reach this target it will be necessary to implement radical reform across Government and the economy to make it easier for businesses to establish, thrive and create jobs.
With reference to County Kerry, IDA Ireland markets the linked hub locations of Killarney in South Kerry and Tralee in North Kerry for new foreign direct investment (FDI). In addition, IDA Ireland actively promotes other locations as part of its marketing efforts in response to specific client queries on an opportunistic basis.
At the end of 2011 there were 12 IDA Ireland supported companies in Kerry employing 1,294 permanent staff. Based on the strengths of the region, IDA is particularly targeting the ICT, International Financial Services and Globally Traded Business sectors. In addition, IDA Ireland is working closely with educational institutions and FÁS to develop the skill sets necessary to attract high value added employment to the county.
One of the targets outlined in IDA's Strategy document "Horizon 2020" is that 50% of investments will be located outside of Dublin and Cork. It is acknowledged, however, that there is intense and continual international competition to win this FDI, which is mainly dominated by Metro City Regions with populations in excess of 1 million. Ireland has one Metro Region, the Greater Dublin area, so in order to achieve balanced regional development IDA Ireland focuses on promoting Gateway locations within each Region as the areas of critical mass and highlights the opportunities provided by Hub locations which are within commuting distances of these Gateways. In the final analysis, however, it is the investor who decides where to locate.
