On foot of the job losses announced by the Talk Talk company in Waterford in September 2011, I asked the agencies and stakeholders in the South East region with coming up with a set of actions to address the long-standing unemployment problem in Waterford and the region generally. The specific recommendations contained in the South East Employment Action Plan, produced by Forfas, are being progressed by a Forum representing the agencies and key stakeholders in the region.
The unemployment rate in the region has remained stubbornly high and has been consistently above the national average for many years. I believe the problem is particularly pronounced in Waterford County and City. The number of unemployment blackspots in Waterford has remained constant in the period 1996-2006 whereas other urban areas such as Dublin and Cork have seen sharp decreases. It is clear that the solution to this problem requires focused action.
A number of positive developments have followed on foot of this initiative including a number of significant jobs announcements for the South East 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.
I met with the Forum on 28 March last in Waterford to hear about further progress made by agencies and stakeholders in the region, and to discuss how we can move forward on outstanding actions and other challenges.
Notwithstanding the success of this initiative, I consider that it is neither practicable nor effective to establish jobs task forces or specific jobs plans around the country as a general mechanism to address high unemployment. I believe that to embark on such a course would involve diverting the various State Agencies from their on-going efforts to create jobs. A considerable administrative commitment is involved in servicing any additional committees and groups which may be set up and, given the constrained staff resources facing all public sector bodies at present, I am strongly of the opinion that establishing such additional groups, except in very exceptional circumstances, would not be in the best interests of using the State’s resources effectively.
Although the county has seen a number of company closures IDA Ireland continues to compete for high quality investments for Kerry. At the end of
2012 there were 12 IDA Ireland supported companies in Kerry with total employment of circa 1,600
people. IDA will continue to engage with these companies in respect of operational sustainability, job retention and, in certain cases, expansion opportunities.
Enterprise Ireland activity in Co. Kerry is focussed on the creation of new jobs through supporting entrepreneurs to set up new High Potential Start-Up Companies. In 2012, there were 132 Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in Co. Kerry, employing 3,318 people in a full time basis and a further 132 on contract or part time employment.
All the State enterprise agencies will continue to actively pursue initiatives to facilitate development and job creation in Co. Kerry.
