Brian Stanley
Question:87. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Jobs; Enterprise and Innovation the progress made to date in implementing the Forfás jobs plan for the South East. [41615/12]
View answerTuesday, 2 October 2012
Questions (87)
Written answers
In accordance with the South East Employment Action Plan, which I initiated following the closure of the Talk Talk Call Centre, all the key State players are actively pursuing initiatives to facilitate development and job creation in the region. I travelled to Waterford in June last to meet the members of the South-East Forum and I was heartened to hear of the progress being made.
Foremost amongst these has been that Enterprise Ireland has supported the establishment of the Eishtec Call Centre in Waterford city, where employment had reached 230. This is a very significant achievement and other recent initiatives by Enterprise Ireland in the region included the approval of 14 high quality projects under their competitive feasibility fund, 12 companies being been approved for Graduate Placement. 5 Community Enterprise Centres having been approved for funding for full-time business development managers and a high take-up of the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher scheme in Waterford.
The two local County Enterprise boards, in the city and county, have created 59 new jobs and the South East Regional Authority has secured EU funding for a number of enterprise and innovation-focussed projects.
FÁS training services having provided training for about 5,000 people and that Agency is also undertaking a wide range of other training initiatives. Several tourist initiatives are underway in the region and Science Foundation Ireland has funded 8 research awards to Waterford Institute of Technology.
Other developments include the first phase of the €23 million Belview Strategic Water Supply Scheme which was officially opened in February 2012. This will facilitate industrial development and job creation in Kilkenny and the South East. The total investment for this phase of the scheme is €13m. In March 2012, McDonald’s Ireland and Dawn Meats announced that Dawn Meats had been awarded a 5 year €300 million contract to process up to 18,000 tonnes of Irish beef annually for McDonald’s. The deal has led Dawn Meats to invest €14.5 million in a new purpose built, state of the art, beef processing facility in Carroll’s Cross, Co Waterford, creating 65 new jobs. This investment is supported by Enterprise Ireland.
I look forward to on-going co-operation and collaboration between all the various stakeholders across the South East region to pursue the Action Plan recommendations.