Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 December 2013
110. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans for job growth in County Wicklow; the number of Industrial Development Agency visits to the county in 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; the specific plans he or any of his agencies, national or local, has planned for Arklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52348/13]
View answerI have been informed by IDA Ireland that there were three agency sponsored site visits by potential investors to County Wicklow in 2011, six in 2012 and, to date in 2013, there have been two visits. These site visits were from new companies visiting the location for the first time and from senior executives of existing companies.
As Ireland competes for high quality investments, the concept of scale is crucial. Leading global corporations require a significant population pool, access to qualified talent, world standard physical and digital infrastructure coupled with the availability of sophisticated professional and business support services. In order to achieve economic regional development, IDA prioritises the marketing of Gateway locations within each Region as the locations of critical mass (i.e. sufficient scale of population, skills, infrastructure, companies, business services etc.) and highlights the opportunities provided by Hub locations which are within commuting distances of these Gateways. With improvements in infrastructure and investment in one town in a region it has a positive effect on other towns in the region.
The East Region, which includes Wicklow, has been particularly successful in recent years in terms of attracting inward investment from FDI companies and employing 67,860 people. At present, there are 17 IDA supported companies in County Wicklow employing 2,267 people. IDA Ireland has strong relationships with these companies and works closely with them to ensure their long term sustainability and to encourage their growth, development and continuing re-investment in their sites.
Last year Wicklow CEB approved funding for 37 projects, with an associated job creation projection of 88. The Board provided training for 430 participants and 41 companies were assigned a mentor. So far in 2013, Wicklow CEB has approved funding for 24 projects, with an associated job creation project of 69. They have also provided training for 387 participants and 37 companies have been assigned a mentor. To date in 2013 over €1.9m has been paid to County Wicklow based companies by Enterprise Ireland and the agency currently has 177 client companies in Co. Wicklow employing in excess of 3,300 people.
The Department of Finance has recently produced improved employment forecasts for 2013 and 2014. We have now moved from a situation where the private sector was losing over 7,000 jobs per month before this Government came to office, to the present situation where it is creating 5,000 jobs per month.
While these are very encouraging signs for the economy, we must continue to build on this progress and support further job creation. I am currently preparing the 2014 Action Plan on behalf of the Government and we will continue, through that process, to build on the success of the actions we have taken over the last two years.
