Written Answers Nos. 120-129
120. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans for the land bank in Haynestown, Dundalk, County Louth owned by the Industrial Development Agency ; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12524/15]
View answerI have been informed by IDA Ireland that the Agency's lands in Mullagharlin/Haynestown currently have valid planning permission in place for an Advance Biopharmaceutical and Knowledge Industry Campus which will support biopharmaceutical administration, research and support activities. The site has been masterplanned to include two facilities which will consist of a medium to large scale bio pharma manufacturing facility and small to medium scale bio pharma manufacturing facility. The planning permission is valid until 2018.
The promotion of this site forms part of IDA Ireland's global marketing strategy to potential IDA/FDI clients across a number of industry sectors with options for site availability with planning permission or as a greenfield site.
IDA Ireland recently published its new strategy for the 5 year period 2015 to 2019. In that Strategy the Agency set itself a target of winning 900 investments over the 5 year period and of increasing the level of investments won into in each region by between 30% and 40% during the lifetime of the Strategy.
As a Government, we are determined to ensure that every region in the country will benefit from recovery and last month we announced details of the Action Plan for Jobs-Regional initiative which will seek to maximise the strengths and assets of each region to support enterprise growth and job creation. The objective is that six Regional Action Plans will be launched by July, with two remaining Strategies in development at that stage.
Additionally the Government will provide up to €250 million over five years in additional capital funding 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. This programme will build on the recent investment by the Agency 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.
121. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the role his Department or any organisation under the remit of his Department, is playing in plans for a campus for indigenous small and medium sized enterprises as part of a project (details supplied) in County Cork; the level of funding that is being committed to this aspect of the project; the type of small and medium sized enterprises it is hoped to have on the campus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12543/15]
View answerThe Irish Maritime Energy Research Cluster (IMERC) promotes Ireland as a world-class renowned research and development location that will unlock Ireland's Maritime and Energy potential.
Enterprise Ireland (EI) is represented on the Board of IMERC. EI has engaged, and continues to engage with IMERC on assisting it in implementing its strategic plan.
To-date, EI has not made a financial contribution to the IMERC initiative for a new Campus for indigenous small and medium enterprises. However, EI may be able to assist individual such companies.
I understand that Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has no plans for a campus for indigenous small and medium sized enterprises in Haulbowline, Co Cork.
122. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to implement the employment and social innovation programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12548/15]
View answerThe Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) is an EU funding instrument, managed by the European Commission, which supports the development of innovative social policies and promotes labour mobility, as well as facilitating access to microcredits and encouraging social entrepreneurship.
EaSI brings three EU programmes, which were previously managed separately, together under one umbrella. They are:
-PROGRESS – which supports the modernisation of employment and social policies
-EURES – which supports job mobility (the Department of Social Protection has responsibility with regard to EURES programme)
-Progress Microfinance – which aims to increase the availability of microcredit – loans below €25,000 – for setting up or developing a small business.
The role of my Department in relation to the EaSI programme is to monitor its operation to bring funding opportunities to the attention of appropriate Irish bodies through information dissemination of the EaSI work programmes and on calls for proposals/tenders.
Ireland is represented on the EaSI Committee by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Member) and the Department of Social Protection (Alternate).
As part of its role in the management of this funding instrument, the European Commission disperses funds directly to successful applicants.
123. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total number of manufacturing and service jobs created in the past four years to date; the total number of persons now employed in both sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12567/15]
View answerThe data available relates to manufacturing and services sectors jobs in companies which are supported by the enterprise agencies.
There were 38,705 jobs created (i.e. gross job gains) in agency-assisted client companies in 2014, up from 35,411 jobs in 2011, 35,165 jobs in 2012, and 37,412 in 2013. In terms of the net change (i.e. when job losses are subtracted from job gains), there were +15,648 net jobs created by agency-assisted client companies in 2014, up from +6,271 in 2011, 8,853 in 2012, and +14,336 jobs in 2013.
Focusing on gross jobs gains and breaking down by sector, for the year 2014 there were some 17,222 jobs created in the manufacturing sector, while 18,544 jobs were created in internationally traded and financial services sectors, with an additional 2,939 jobs in other sectors outside of manufacturing and services. The corresponding data for 2011 were 16,977 jobs created in the manufacturing sector, 16,199 jobs in services, with an additional 2,235 jobs in other sectors. In 2012 there were 15,384 jobs created in manufacturing, 17,018 in services and 2,763 jobs created in other sectors. Finally, in 2013 there were 16,548 jobs created in manufacturing, 17,404 in services, and 3,460 jobs created in other sectors.
Turning to net jobs created, i.e. gross gains minus gross losses, and breaking the figures out by sector, as requested, in 2014 there were +5,504 net jobs created in manufacturing, +9,488 in services and +656 net jobs created in other sectors. The corresponding data for 2011 were +473 net jobs created in manufacturing, +6,204 net jobs created in services, and a total of -406 net job losses in other sectors. In 2012 there were +2,151 net jobs created in manufacturing, +6,218 net jobs created in services and +484 net jobs created in other sectors. Finally, in 2013 there were +4,297 net jobs created in manufacturing, +8,961 net jobs created in services, and +1,078 net jobs created in other sectors.
The total number of persons employed by agency-assisted client companies in 2014 (in both permanent and temporary contracts) amounts to 362,415, with 193,072 engaged in the manufacturing sector, 141,011 in services, and an additional 28,332 in other sectors. This is up from a total of 323,654 persons employed in 2011, of whom 181,138 were engaged in manufacturing, 116,351 in services and a further 26,165 in other sectors.
124. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the major considerations of foreign companies contemplating investment here; if skills, services such as information and communications technology, road or rail transport or other considerations are paramount; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12568/15]
View answerIDA Ireland has informed me that the vast majority of its client feedback shows that one of the key considerations for potential and existing clients when it comes to making investment location decisions is the availability of talent at a competitive price. Other factors which also affect investor decisions include Ireland's relative cost competitiveness, good infrastructure, corporate tax regime and available direct firm level financial supports.
IDA Ireland constantly monitors competitor locations and the value propositions they offer potential mobile investment. Competitor locations differ depending on the sector of the mobile investment. Within Europe, Ireland's FDI performance positions us in absolute terms inside the top ten European locations for investment projects with the UK, Germany and France as the top locations
Ireland's attractiveness as a potential location for inward investment is not reliant solely on my Department. It requires a cross-Governmental effort. Within our first year in office, this Government launched the Action Plan for Jobs to co-ordinate the delivery of job creation policy across all 16 Government Departments to further Ireland's potential and build on current job-creation levels. We are now on our fourth annual plan in a very successful multi -year process and we look forward to continuing the success of previous years.
125. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which European Union grant support continues to be made available to indigenous Irish companies in both the manufacturing and services sectors in respect of innovation and technology in the past four years and in 2015 to date; the extent to which such support is expected to continue in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12570/15]
View answerEU framework programmes for research and innovation provide Ireland with valuable mechanisms for firms – indigenous and multinational - to further their innovativeness in products, services and processes. These programmes are also a critical source of non-Exchequer funding for this important economic activity.
The current EU framework programme for research and innovation is Horizon 2020 (H2020). It has a budget of close to €80bn. and runs over the period 2014-2020.
The fact that Industrial Leadership is one of the 3 pillars on which H2020 is built is indicative of the importance the EU attaches to speeding up development of the technologies and innovations that will underpin tomorrow's businesses.
H2020 stimulates SME involvement right across the whole programme, with a particular focus on close-to-market support. At least €8.7bn in EU support will make its way to SMEs who participate in EU collaborative research and innovation projects during the lifetime of H2020. Irish companies who successfully compete for funding from this source will boost their innovative capability.
Ireland has set itself an ambitious target of €1.25bn over the lifetime of H2020. Our strategy to achieve our H2020 target is being driven by the H2020 High Level Group, chaired by my Department.
The H2020 national support system is based in Enterprise Ireland. Through a national office and a network of national contact points in the relevant programme areas of H2020, information and support is provided to enterprise and researchers to facilitate their engagement with the opportunities available under H2020.
Under the predecessor framework programme to H2020 – FP7 – which ran from 2007 to 2013 – Irish companies and academics won over €620m. This funding provided a considerable increase in their innovative capability.
126. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which his Department continues to monitor the cost base in the manufacturing and services sectors, with particular reference to the need to remain competitive vis-à-vis European and non-European competitors; if particular costs have been identified as being a disincentive in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12571/15]
View answerThe National Competitiveness Council (NCC) will shortly publish its annual Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2015 report which was conducted as part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2015. This report will provide benchmarks of key business costs across a range of indicators and will identify areas where Irish enterprise costs are out of line with key competitors. The report will concentrate on costs that are largely domestically determined such as labour, property, energy, water, waste, communications and business services, and considers both price levels, and changes in those levels (i.e. price inflation). I understand that the report is currently being finalised by the Council: once it has been completed, I will be in a better position to comment in greater detail. Thereafter, the Council will identify a range of recommendations designed to address the issues identified. These recommendations will be included in the Council's annual Competitiveness Challenge report which is due to be completed in Q4 2015.
In the meantime, addressing Ireland's international cost competitiveness continues to be a key economic priority for Government. The Government's Action Plan for Jobs, which is co-ordinated and developed by my Department since 2012, sets out a comprehensive set of measures to improve our competitiveness performance, with a specific focus on improving cost competitiveness. Cost-focused actions in the 2015 Plan include measures addressing legal costs, energy efficiency, commercial rates, and regulated charges.
As a result of a range of APJ initiatives over recent years, substantial progress has been made in terms of improving Ireland's competitiveness in recent years and we have climbed to 15th in the IMD competitiveness rankings.
127. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which lack of working capital continues to be identified by indigenous small enterprises in the manufacturing and services sectors as an obstacle to expansion; the degree to which these issues have been brought to the attention of the relevant authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12572/15]
View answerSince this Government came to Office in March 2011, it has worked across its various Departments and Agencies to ensure that all enterprises have access to appropriate finance for both working capital and investment. The SME State Bodies Group, chaired by the Department of Finance and with members from all relevant 'access to finance' Departments and Agencies was established and works to deliver on this agenda for all SMEs, primarily through its work under the Action Plan for Jobs process.
My Department put in place 2 novel credit schemes: the Microenterprise Loan Fund and the Credit Guarantee Scheme to support viable enterprises, from all sectors, who have been refused bank credit. Both Schemes have been the subject of review and appropriate improvements to both Schemes are in train. My Department also provides a range of equity and venture capital finance through its Agency, Enterprise Ireland.
The Minister for Finance has established the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI). The SBCI will the ensure access to flexible funding for Irish SMEs by facilitating the provision of:
-Flexible products with longer maturity and capital repayment flexibility, subject to credit approval:
-Lower cost funding to financial institutions which is passed on to SMEs; and
-Market access for new entrants to the SME lending market, creating real competition.
Given the extent of supports available I am happy to direct the Deputy to the supporting SMEs Online Tool, which is a cross-Government initiative to help enterprises, entrepreneurs and start-ups to navigate the range of Government business supports for which they may be eligible. The Tool is available at: www.actionplanforjobs.ie.
In order to inform the work on access to finance for SMEs, the Department of Finance produces a Credit Demand Survey every 6 months, the last one being for the period April 2014 – September 2014. This Survey covers the entire SME sector and is broken down by size into: micro, small and medium enterprises, and does not produce data at sectoral level.
This latest Survey has found that improved trading conditions mean that far fewer companies are seeking credit in order to survive day to day financial pressures. Only just under half (48%) of those SMEs seeking finance between April and September 2014 did so for working capital needs, compared to 61% in the previous period. Improved turnover and profit have led to a greater proportion of SMEs suggesting they fund working capital through internal funding/retained earnings (68%). It also appears from this Survey that banks are currently more likely to approve funding for working capital (71%) than for growth (64%). Decline rates for growth stand at 17%, with the decline rate for working capital at just 13%. Any SME who has been refused bank credit or has issues with the terms and conditions offered can appeal these decisions to the Government's Credit Review Office.
128. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total number of jobs created throughout County Kildare in each of the last ten years and in 2015 to date; the number of these which are in the manufacturing and services sectors; the indications for the future in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12573/15]
View answerThe data available relates to jobs in companies supported by the enterprise agencies.
There were 1,621 gross jobs created in 2014 in County Kildare in agency-assisted client companies. When job losses are subtracted from the gross figure, 847 net jobs were created in County Kildare in 2014. The number of gross jobs created in County Kildare have varied from 2,625 in 2005 to 651 in 2007, while the net change has varied from +1,780 jobs in 2005 to -1,609 jobs in 2009. The total number employed in agency-assisted companies in County Kildare amounts to 17,910 in 2014, of which 13,187 are in manufacturing, and 3,840 in services, and 883 in other sectors.
Over the period 2005-2014, there have been some 12,958 gross jobs created cumulatively in County Kildare by agency-assisted client companies, with +864 cumulative net jobs created.
Turning to a sectoral split of the data, for 2014 there were 1,299 gross job gains and +797 net jobs created (netting out job losses) in the manufacturing sector in County Kildare. The corresponding 2014 figures for the services sector are 280 gross jobs (manufacturing) and +25 net jobs (services).
Breaking down the cumulative data (2005-2014) by sector, there were 8,145 gross jobs created in manufacturing, 3,908 in services, and a further 905 in other sectors. Furthermore, there was a cumulative net change of -1,059 jobs in manufacturing, +1,501 in services, and +422 in other sectors.
129. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to any case where Ireland is in breach of the directive on services in the Internal Market and if so, if he will provide the details of all such breaches; if enforcement proceedings have commenced against Ireland over any such breaches; the fines possible; the immediate steps he proposes to take within his departmental powers to address this breach; if these steps will include new legislation or amendments to legislation presently before the Houses of the Oireachtas; the correspondence, he has had with representatives of the professions in question, and the action necessary from them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12615/15]
View answerEU infringement proceedings are currently underway in connection with one alleged breach of the Services Directive. This relates to Article 24 of the Directive and the prohibition on commercial communications by barristers. The substance of this case is being dealt with by my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality to whom I note the Deputy has also posed a similar question.
