Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 March 2015
130. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he has taken to protect public jobs in rural Ireland (details supplied) which are within the discretion of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12663/15]
View answerPolicy responsibility for public sector jobs is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, T.D., and I have no policy remit in relation to this matter.
The specific situation referred to by the Deputy relates to the Department of Social Protection and is also outside my remit.
From the point of view of improving the spread of jobs created by the enterprise sector across the regions, the Government recently announced details of the Action Plan for Jobs: Regional initiative which will seek to build on the strengths and assets of each region to maximise enterprise growth and job creation. My objective is that six Regional Action Plans, including one for the Border region, will be launched by July, with two remaining Strategies in development at that stage.
The Action Plan for Jobs: Regional initiative will provide up to €250 million in additional funding over five years to support regional enterprise development. This includes the roll out of a five year, €150 million property investment programme by IDA Ireland to attract foreign direct investment into the regions.
In addition, up to €100 million will be available from Enterprise Ireland through three new competitive calls which will be announced over the coming months. Tangible jobs impact, enterprise start-up and scaling are amongst the criteria against which applications will be measured. Innovative collaborations among different regional agencies or stakeholders will also be favourably weighted.
The context of this exercise is the national target of sustainable full employment by 2018. This will require a net increase in employment of 160,000. The aim will be to achieve a balanced share of this growth in jobs across all regions.
