Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2015
20. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures he or the Industrial Development Authority have taken to ensure that a plant (details supplied) in County Tipperary will become a source of local employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5851/15]
View answerI am informed by IDA Ireland that the former Johnson and Johnson/Alza plant in Cashel is in the process of changing hands. It is my understanding that discussions between the company (J&J) and a private investment entity are currently on-going. IDA Ireland has asked J&J to connect them with the new owner and the company has committed to do so at an appropriate time. IDA Ireland is prepared to work with the new owners to try to deliver high value sustainable jobs for Cashel. I’m sure that the Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage.
In County Tipperary as a whole there are 11 IDA Ireland client companies employing 3,370 people in full and part time employment. Cashel, located as it is in South Tipperary, is marketed by IDA Ireland as part of the South East Region, along with the counties of Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny. The main clusters which have emerged in the South East are high value manufacturing (pharmaceutical, medical devices and engineering) and International Financial Services.
As the Deputy is aware, the Action Plan for Jobs 2015 was launched on 29th January. This is the fourth annual plan in a multi-year process, which started in 2012. When the First Action Plan for Jobs was launched, unemployment stood at 15.1%. Today it stands at 10.6% and we are on track to exceed our target of 100,000 additional jobs by 2016. We are now setting a goal to bring employment to 2.1 million by 2018 – 2 years ahead of our original target.
We are determined to ensure that every region will benefit from the recovery. Yesterday, along with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, I announced the details of a comprehensive new strategy to support enterprise growth and job creation at regional level. The Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative seeks to build on the success of the annual Action Plan for Jobs process by developing locally driven plans that can build on the strengths and opportunities identified in each region.
The strategy will provide up to €250 million over five years in additional funding to support regional enterprise development. This includes the roll out of a five year, €150 million property investment programme by the IDA to attract foreign direct investment into the regions. This programme will build on the recent investment by the IDA in a number of advance manufacturing facilities in regional locations. A further sum of up to €100 million will be available to Enterprise Ireland to support enterprises in the regions to start-up, grow and export, thereby creating more jobs in regional locations.
