Jonathan O'Brien
Question:384. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his assessment of the potential savings to be made through an island-wide job creation and growth strategy. [45694/13]
View answerTuesday, 5 November 2013
Questions (384)
Written answers
The Action Plan for Jobs process has been shared with my counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive. I am glad to say that there is positive on-going engagement between my Department’s enterprise agencies and their Northern Ireland counterparts. Both sets of agencies are aware of each other’s offerings and they collaborate closely, where appropriate, on schemes and programmes that will result in job creation and growth throughout the island.
There is also on-going engagement between my officials and their counterparts in Northern Ireland, in particular in relation to the activities of InterTradeIreland, the all-island trade and business development body. InterTradeIreland operates a wide range of innovative programmes designed to develop linkages and cooperation between SMEs in various sectors and to build on relevant strengths to the benefit of both jurisdictions.
However, it would not be feasible to undertake an assessment of an overarching all-island job creation and growth strategy. Northern Ireland has its own economic and growth strategy and a separate currency and monetary/ fiscal policies. Naturally, both jurisdictions will continue to cooperate and work together in key economic sectors, especially through the structures of the North South Ministerial Council and the bodies created under the Good Friday Agreement, where possible, for mutual economic benefits and job creation opportunities.