Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 February 2013
193. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide details of current State-identified employment priorities and initiatives directed specifically at the south east region. [7885/13]
View answer194. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures he has enacted to tackle unemployment in the south east; and if he will outline those actions, the cost involved and the results in terms of net jobs created or lost. [7886/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 194 together.
All of the State’s enterprise development agencies and local authorities in the South East region have been working together to provide greater focus on addressing the unemployment issue in the South East. Part of the remit of the South East Forum, which I established following the Talk Talk job losses, was to examine ways of ensuring better synchronisation of effort by these agencies and stakeholders in order to avoid duplication, and produce synergies that would lead to job creation and investment opportunities in the region. The South East Action Plan has a number of recommendations which the agencies and stakeholders are charged with implementing. I am satisfied that all these key players in the region have been working together, from within existing budgets, to achieve the Plan’s recommendations.
Between 2010 and 2012, Enterprise Ireland approved over €40m to companies in the South East to support a range of activities from Start-up, R&D, Management Development, ‘Lean’ business processes and expansion. There were a number of significant jobs announcements for the South East in 2012 e.g. the Eishtec Call Centre in Waterford city created 280 Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs; a further 65 Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs new jobs were created by Dawn Meats as a result of a 5 year €300m contract with McDonald’s restaurants; the two local Waterford City and County Enterprise Boards have created 59 new jobs; and Danone Baby Nutrition in Wexford announced an investment of €20m in its manufacturing facility which will create around 45 new jobs at its plant.
The cost of creating and supporting IDA Ireland’s jobs in the South East, between 2010 and 2011, was €25m. IDA Ireland has been very active in seeking to win additional investment for Waterford. This is evidenced in the most recent announcement on 12 February that Sanofi, a world-leading healthcare company, will invest €44m in Genzyme’s biotechnology campus in Waterford. This follows a €150m investment made more than a year ago, and will ensure that this facility can produce the company’s latest product. It provides an indication of the Waterford site’s strategic value to the company. Sanofi’s investment represents a very positive result for Waterford and Ireland and fits in with IDA Ireland’s focus on the life sciences as a key growth area.
All the key State players have been actively pursuing initiatives to facilitate development and job creation in the South East region, and I look forward to continued co-operation and collaboration with real benefits for the region.
