Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 May 2012
102 Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the pro-active steps he will take to ensure that jobs will come to County Kerry in view of the fact that we have premises available by our State agencies and a ready work force which are educated, skilled and desperately seeking employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26092/12]
View answerIDA Ireland is an autonomous agency whose statutory obligation is the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and its regions. Through its network of overseas offices IDA Ireland markets the linked hub locations of Killarney in South Kerry and Tralee in North Kerry for new FDI. Based on the strengths of the region, IDA Ireland 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.
At the end of 2011 there were 12 IDA Ireland supported companies in Kerry employing 1,294 permanent staff. 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.
The Government's 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. I recently announced the progress which has been made in this regard so far this year. Meanwhile, I am already getting suggestions and proposals in relation to preparing the Action Plan for 2013, which I am examining and will bring to Government later this year. As the Deputy is no doubt aware, the "Succeed in Ireland" initiative, which aims to create 5,000 jobs within five years was launched on 8th March 2012. The launch represents the delivery of a key Q1 commitment in the Action Plan for Jobs 2012, and also represents a concrete example of the Government's commitment to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business.
The aim of the Succeed in Ireland initiative is to incentivise people around the world, including our diaspora, to be our eyes and ears on the global stage and help deliver new jobs and investment. This is an innovative scheme that offers a new channel to reach thousands of small to medium enterprises around the world and spread the word about Ireland's strong reputation as a location for business.'
The initiative will complement IDA's existing work in securing FDI from large multinationals, companies at second tier and emerging business companies and will form a key part of the Government's strategy to deliver investment to regional areas.
Meanwhile, IDA Ireland continues to market all available land and buildings in the County including its 12 acre Business and Technology Park at Tiernaboul, Killarney, Co. Kerry. In Tralee, IDA is also marketing the Kerry Technology Park which is owned and managed by Shannon Development in partnership with the Institute of Technology Tralee. IDA also markets available private property solutions. However, in all cases the final decisions on where to locate are taken by the investor.
