Written Answers Nos. 1-25
11. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if County Donegal has fallen behind other parts of the country in terms of job creation; if poor road and broadband infrastructure in County Donegal is a contributing factor to the lack of new inward investment there over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2088/16]
View answerThe CSO does not collect employment numbers on a county basis. Donegal is a part of the Border Region. Since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs, the Border Region has seen job growth of 20,000 which makes it one of the fastest growing regions in the country. Unemployment fell from 15.5 in Q1 2012 to 9.3 in Q3 2015 in the border region.
The Enterprise Agencies do record county data. In the past 5 years IDA employment in Donegal has grown by over 1000 jobs; an increase of almost 58%. This is an exceptionally strong performance for the country.
Employment has also grown in enterprises supported by Enterprise Ireland. Between 2011 - 2015 over 2,600 additional new jobs were created in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland in the border region. This compares to over 4,100 job losses in EI supported companies in the border region between 2008 - 2010.
Between 2011 - 2015 over 1,800 additional new jobs were created in companies supported by IDA in the border region. This compares to over 805 job losses in the period 2008 - 2010.
I have recently published a Regional Enterprise Plan for the North West and North East which aims to enhance the performance of all sectors in the region and to build on the strength of the various parts of the region. There has been strong engagement from stakeholders in Donegal in developing this plan.
Infrastructure is an important element of any region’s offering. I was particularly pleased to recently visit the Co. Lab at L.I.T. which will greatly enhance the attraction of the North West Regional Science Park.
Road and broadband infrastructure plays a key part in enterprise development and cooperation across government agencies, local authorities and local businesses and is vital when it comes to making improvements in this context.
12. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he has initiated contingency planning to prevent damage to Ireland’s enterprise sector in the event of Britain withdrawing from the European Union, or in the case of the all-Ireland economy. [2066/16]
View answerThe EU-UK question is a strategic priority for Government, and for my Department. This is because UK membership of the Union is hugely important both to Ireland’s interests, and to the interests of a stable, successful and prosperous EU as a whole. The Government’s overriding focus is on helping to keep the UK in the Union, not preparing for its departure.
Work has been underway across Government Departments, including my own, for some time to ensure we best understand the various issues at stake.
The Department of the Taoiseach also plays a leading role, given the whole-of-government dimension. In this context, last May, a unit was established in the Department of the Taoiseach, specifically dealing with British-Irish and Northern Ireland affairs.
The Department of Finance, for example, commissioned the research published last November by the Economic and Social Research Institute on Irish-British macroeconomic links in the context of our joint EU membership.
We know from this and various other published assessments that there are very significant strategic and economic risks for Ireland if the UK were to leave the EU. The best way to mitigate these risks is to play a constructive role in the negotiations that lie ahead, working with the British Government and all our EU partners so as to find a consensual basis for the UK’s continued membership of the Union.
Given the importance of the enterprise sector of this issue, both IDA and Enterprise Ireland are factoring this issue into their own contingency planning and are tracking where potential impacts may arise.
Enterprise Ireland already has a significant number of programmes available to companies who face competitive threats from various sources. There include Lean Programmes, Market Diversification, Innovation and Management Development. These will be the tools available to assist companies with planning and preparation.
13. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of indigenous exporting firms, the total of their exports and the percentage of all firms that are indigenous; and how Ireland compares to other small European nations. [2064/16]
View answerData is not published of the sort which the Deputy seeks.
Enterprise Ireland is engaged with over 3,000 companies which generate an estimated €20 billion in exports and overall the agency's client base employs 192,000 persons.
There are of course many enterprises in sectors not included among the sectors supported by Enterprise Ireland. These would include enterprises in Tourism, Transport, Education, Retail etc.
Since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs exports from EI supported companies have increased from an €15.2 bn in 2011 to €18.6 bn in 2014. The figures for 2015 will be available later in the first half of this year and is expected to exceed €20 bn.
The export intensity of EI clients has also seen strong increases, with exports accounting for 51% of total sales in 2014 compared to 41% in 2009. All sectors now, excluding Construction, Timber and Consumer Retail are now more reliant on exports than domestic sales.
The markets for exports from Enterprise Ireland companies have also become more diversified internationally. They operate strong programmes to encourage:
- Start-up orientated to export markets
- To encourage enterprises to become first time exporters
- To encourage exporting enterprise to scale and diversify
International data is difficult /different. However, the following table from the OECD shows that Ireland has 40 exporting SME per 10,000 of population compared to 21 in the UK, 14 in France. However Ireland ranks behind some smaller European countries such as Denmark 45 and Austria.
Table 1: TEC Database – OECD – Comparison of OECD exporting entities 2011
|
Country |
Exporting Enterprises (0-249 employees) per 10,000 Population |
Exporting Enterprises (0-249 employees) as % Total Exporting Enterprises (number) |
Exporting Enterprises (0-249 employees) as % Total Exporting Enterprises (value) |
|
Estonia |
89.11 |
99.1% |
75.6% |
|
Slovenia |
82.49 |
98.8% |
59.5% |
|
Belgium |
72.71 |
99.1% |
69.5% |
|
Slovak Republic |
54.30 |
98.6% |
38.3% |
|
Austria |
48.66 |
97.8% |
49.9% |
|
Denmark |
45.91 |
97.5% |
48.8% |
|
Hungary |
41.59 |
98.5% |
46.5% |
|
Sweden |
41.10 |
97.8% |
37.7% |
|
Ireland |
40.16 |
93.7% |
76.2% |
|
Portugal |
39.48 |
98.8% |
57.3% |
|
Italy |
33.88 |
99.1% |
56.2% |
|
Germany |
32.86 |
98.6% |
48.6% |
|
Greece |
30.31 |
98.4% |
51.9% |
|
New Zealand |
28.06 |
100.0% |
100.0% |
|
Finland |
24.22 |
96.6% |
32.2% |
|
United Kingdom |
21.15 |
97.6% |
44.1% |
|
Poland |
17.86 |
97.1% |
41.5% |
|
France |
14.82 |
96.5% |
42.9% |
|
Canada |
11.38 |
96.3% |
38.7% |
|
United States |
9.04 |
96.2% |
29.6% |
|
Turkey |
6.86 |
97.1% |
59.8% |
Source: Data extracted on 09 Feb 2015 from OECD.Stat
Source: OECD TEC by sector and size class; OECD Total population
14. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the latest independent report carried out by Glassdoor Economic Research that found that Ireland ranked third highest for under-employment in the European countries analysed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2093/16]
View answerThe US-based Glassdoor Economic Research recently published a report entitled “Where is the Best Country in Europe to Get a Job”. The report suggest that Ireland has the third highest percentage of involuntary part-time workers – that is, people who work part-time but would rather be working full-time – amongst the 18 European countries reviewed.
The labour market data used in the report is based on OECD data sources for 2014. However, the pace of Ireland’s economic recovery and employment growth has been such that the figures in the Glassdoor report are now out of date. The most recent Quarterly National Household Survey - for Quarter 3 2015 - shows that 106,500 people were classified as part-time underemployed workers, compared to 124,300 in Quarter 3 2014. The 2015 figures represent approximately 5% of the total number of people in employment, compared to 9% of total employment based on 2014 figures in the Glassdoor report. It also shows a convergence in the space of just one year towards the OECD average used in the Glassdoor report.
Other figures used in the Glassdoor report for Ireland are similarly out of date – for example, our unemployment rate now stands at 8.8% compared to the 10% figure used in the report.
The Action Plan for Jobs has played a key role in improving the environment to help Irish businesses to create jobs, and in attracting Foreign Direct Investment.
Since the first Action Plan for Jobs was launched in 2012, over 135,000 additional jobs have been created in the economy, across all sectors and in all regions of the country. Almost 90% of these jobs have been in full-time employment. As the economy recovers and new job opportunities arise, I would anticipate that the number of workers who are underemployed will decrease further.
Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland have both just recorded the best set of job creation figures in their history. Between the two agencies, their client companies added 22,000 net additional jobs to the economy in 2015 alone – 89% of them full-time – with a focus on exporting sectors that can provide sustainable, high quality jobs. This is a remarkable performance and has contributed to Ireland’s unemployment rate falling below 9% for the first time since 2008.
The 2016 Action Plan for Jobs was published earlier this week and will continue to build on the progress which we have made over the last number of years. Our target is to support the creation of an additional 50,000 new jobs in 2016, which would bring the number of people at work to over 2 million by the end of 2016. We have already exceeded the objective which we set ourselves in 2012 of having 100,000 extra jobs in the economy by 2016. We have upped our level of ambition and have set a target of having 2.1 million people in employment by 2018, with the longer-term goal of having 2.18 million people at work by 2020.
15. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation how he will increase the number of Industrial Development Agency Ireland-sponsored visits to County Donegal and accordingly increase the county's share of job creation numbers within the north east and the north west regions, given that counties such as Sligo and Louth experience higher numbers of agency-sponsored visits, yet are grouped in the same regional category as County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2078/16]
View answerSince the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2012, over 20,000 jobs have been created in the North East/North West region, which includes Donegal. This is in stark contrast to the five years up to 2011 when Donegal lost 3,400 jobs with particularly big falls in manufacturing and in construction. During that period, employment in foreign-owned companies stagnated and by 2011 represented less than 3.5% of total employment in Donegal.
In the past 5 years IDA employment in Donegal has grown by over 1000 jobs; an increase of almost 58%. This is an exceptionally strong performance for the country.
The number of jobs in the 12 IDA Ireland client companies in County Donegal rose considerably from 2,101 in 2011 to 2,918 in 2015 and represents almost 30% of the 9,926 people employed in client companies across the entire North East and North West Region. Given the global economic environment in recent years, the existing client base has not only performed well in retaining its presence in Donegal but is also expanding. The most recent example of this was the announcement in July of last year by Pramerica of the expansion of its facility in Donegal by 330 jobs.
While there were five IDA Ireland-sponsored site visits to Donegal in 2015, it is clear from the jobs growth figures that data on site visits is not a true measure of FDI activity in a region or county. 70% of all new FDI investment comes from existing client companies.
16. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his assessment of foreign direct investment in the Dublin area in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2018/16]
View answerIDA-supported employment nationwide is at a record high and now stands at 187,056. In 2015, Dublin based IDA Ireland client companies employed 77,244 people across the county. This is up from 57,673 jobs in 2011, an increase of 34%.
Dublin is recognised as one of Europe’s leading business locations and has been a success in terms of attracting Foreign Direct Investment as it hosts many of the world’s leading companies such as Google and Facebook. Many of these companies announced fresh investments in Dublin in 2015 such as Sage, Vodafone and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. A new name to Ireland is Infosys who will be creating 355 jobs in Dublin. 2016 has seen an excellent start with a major investment announcement by Oracle who will be creating 450 new jobs in their new state-of-the-art offices in Dublin.
Dublin is now an internationally renowned cluster for technology and financial services companies and is also home to a number of large life sciences companies, all of whom leverage the infrastructure and utilities available in the capital to run their operations.
Dublin has both the infrastructure and skilled workforce and required to attract FDI and is in a good position to win new investments in the future, even in a fiercely competitive global market. I will be publishing the Dublin Action Plan for Jobs shortly, which will have a comprehensive set of proposals to drive both FDI and indigenous job creation and economic growth in the Dublin area over the next number of years.
17. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his assessment of job creation in Dublin in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2017/16]
View answerToday there are 605,000 people employed in Dublin representing 31 percent of the total working population in Ireland. As a dynamic urban location, Dublin offers employment across a range of sectors and activities and is poised to take advantage of a return to growth.
With a renewed focus on sustainable enterprise and job growth, based on exports, innovation and skills, more sustainable jobs are being created by enterprises in Dublin, and following a period of intensified and coordinated action by government since the launch by my Department of the Action Plan for Jobs process in early 2012, the unemployment rate in Dublin is back to just above 8 percent.
The enterprise development agencies both announced positive outcomes for 2015 – continuing an upward trend in employment growth since 2010, driven by export growth.
Enterprise Ireland supported the creation of an additional 6,040 gross full time jobs in 2015 and a net change of 3,100, or an increase of six percent, bringing total full time employment to 54,860.
Similarly, IDA Ireland supported the creation of 8,683 gross new full time jobs and a net change of 5,676, an increase of 8.7 percent bringing employment in IDA client companies to a total of 70,790 in Dublin.
Looking back over the past decade, Dublin, as with other regions, was significantly impacted by the recession, with employment falling from a peak of 640,000 in 2007 and an unemployment rate of under 4 percent to an unemployment rate of 13 percent by 2010. As much of the growth in the 2000s was related to construction, retail and consumption, it proved unsustainable over the longer term.
For Ireland (and for Dublin) as a small open economy, sustainable long term growth is dependent on continued success in international markets. Over the coming decade our enterprise policy is predicated upon growth fuelled by foreign earnings derived from exports in the first instance as distinct from being driven primarily by domestic consumption.
Enterprise 2025 sets out the potential to reach 2.180 million in employment and an overall unemployment rate of 6 percent by 2020. This is based on the premise of export led growth and the additional indirect jobs stimulated by the activities of exporting enterprises in the wider economy. Dublin will make a key contribution to realising the ambition set out in Enterprise 2025. We need to ensure that the Greater Dublin Area continues to perform strongly as a key attractor of FDI and that it provides a dynamic environment for internationally focused Irish owned firms, entrepreneurs and start-ups.
As set out in the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, my Department has developed a series of seven action-oriented Regional Enterprise Development Strategies, with the final eighth Dublin Action Plan to be launched shortly. The Dublin Action Plan will consider Dublin, as Ireland’s capital, both in the national context and also in terms of how it is positioned in an international context, and perceived from an external perspective.
We will continue to work with other agencies and Departments to maximise Dublin’s potential across a range of sectors and activities, including tourism, ICT and Software, Financial Services, Life Sciences, Consumer Internet and Digital, Food & Drink, Construction and Retail.
My Department has also recently set out the Government’s strategy for research and development, science and technology – Innovation 2020. The strategy sets out the roadmap for continuing progress towards our goal of making Ireland a global innovation leader. Dublin can contribute to the national ambition and raise its visibility internationally as a Smart City.
18. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which this country can capitalise on the collaboration between industry and academia with a view to maximising the availability of scales and job opportunities throughout the manufacturing and service sectors while maintaining its attraction as an investment centre for indigenous and foreign direct investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2075/16]
View answerA robust enterprise sector is a prerequisite for a strong, advanced economy. In order for our enterprise base – including both the manufacturing and services sectors - to thrive, it must be both resilient and internationally competitive. A key goal in Innovation 2020 – Ireland’s strategy for Research and Development, Science and Technology, is to stimulate greater collaboration between the enterprise sector and the public research system. To this end, in Innovation 2020 we commit to a concerted effort by the enterprise development agencies and Knowledge Transfer Ireland to increase the breadth and depth of collaboration, including through tailored supports for SMEs that, by virtue of their size, lack the in-house resources to initiate and manage collaborative arrangements.
The connectedness of the research landscape in Ireland – the strong linkages between enterprise, research institutions and State agencies – is a major incentive for companies to invest here. IDA will continue to actively encourage companies who have not yet established an R&D function in Ireland to do so through grant support for in-house R&D projects and promoting linkages to relevant research organisations with whom companies may collaborate.
The priority areas of Manufacturing Competitiveness and Innovation in Services and Business Processes are particularly important for the Irish economy. In Innovation 2020, we commit to increasing capacity in the higher education sector by appointing a number of ‘star’ researchers with proven track records of solutions-driven research in Services and Business Processes and Manufacturing Competitiveness, in collaboration with global leaders in enterprise.
Market-focused research and technology centres are a vital part of the system of public support for enhancing the competitiveness of enterprise through innovation and the commercialisation of research. These centres provide a mechanism through which enterprise can access expertise and technology beyond what they have available in-house to enhance their products and services. They also provide a path to commercialisation for IP emerging from the public research system. In Innovation 2020 we commit to:
- strengthening the network of Technology Centres by increasing their critical mass and affording them greater operational flexibility so that they can provide a broader range of research functions;
- strengthening the network of Technology Gateways to ensure good geographical and technological coverage and to maximise enterprise engagement;
- developing the network of SFI Research Centres to provide world-leading capacity in strategically important areas for the economy;
- addressing the identified enterprise need for Research Technology Organisations, particularly in the areas of Advanced Manufacturing and Services & Business Processes, building on the existing network of centres.
Over the course of the strategy, we will further enhance State support for commercialising research and for transferring knowledge from the public research system into enterprise. This will result in more licensing of technologies and the creation of more spinout companies and ultimately jobs.
19. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if we need to establish the living wage of €11.50 as a new minimum wage to combat low pay and the phenomena of the working poor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2095/16]
View answerThe Living Wage concept is grounded in the idea that a person’s wage should be sufficient to maintain a safe, decent standard of living. At an individual level the resources required to achieve a minimum essential standard of living is very dependent on family circumstances and thus the interaction of individual earnings with household income and State-provided supports such as Child Benefit, Family Income Supplement as well as supports available in relation to housing, education and health all contribute to an individual’s standard of living.
The statutory National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage are separate concepts. The Living Wage is a voluntary societal initiative centred on the social, business and economic case to ensure that, wherever it can be afforded, employers will pay a rate of pay that provides an income that is sufficient to meet an individual’s basic needs, such as housing, food, clothing, transport and healthcare. The Living Wage is voluntary and has no legislative basis and is therefore not a statutory entitlement. It is different to the National Minimum Wage which is a statutory entitlement and has a legislative basis.
Making work pay continues to be a cornerstone of this Government’s agenda and the establishment of the Low Pay Commission on a statutory basis in July last year is one of the key commitments in the Statement of Government Priorities agreed in July 2014. The Commission’s main function is to, on an annual basis, examine and make recommendations on the national minimum wage, with a view to securing that the national minimum wage, where adjusted, is adjusted incrementally over time having had regard to changes in earnings, productivity, overall competitiveness and the likely impact any adjustment will have on employment and unemployment levels. The Commission presented its first report to me in July 2015 in which it recommended an increase of 50 cents per hour to the minimum hourly rate bringing it to €9.15. That increase, which was accepted by Government, came into effect on 1st January last.
20. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation why information regarding the location in Saudi Arabia of the ultimate end-user of €1.7 million worth of military exports in 2013 and €13.2 million worth of military exports in 2014 was not contained in the 2013-2014 report on the operation of the Control of Exports Act 2008, with that data being subsequently published in an information note, and if the 2011-2012 report contained data on the ultimate end-user of military items that had passed through systems integrators, albeit in aggregated form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2019/16]
View answerMy Department publishes periodic reports on the operation of the Control of Exports Act, 2008 which provide information on the value and destination of licensed exports.
Included in these reports are details of the value, destination and category of military licences issued by my Department. My Department is responsible for controls on the export of these military items from Ireland. Under Irish law, military export licences must be sought in respect of the goods and technology, and any components thereof, listed in the Annex to the Control of Exports (Goods and Technology) Order, S.I. 216 of 2012 which reflects the EU Common Military List.
The report for the period 2013 to 2014 provides information on the destination of military licences. In a small number of cases the licensed destination for military exports may not be the destination of final end-use. This can arise where, for example, a component is being exported to a systems integrator or manufacturer who will in turn export the final item to another destination. Due to a compiling error information on these cases was not included in the body of the report. When this oversight came to light steps were immediately taken to correct the omission. An information note on the destination of final end-use of military exports was published on my Department’s website at the same time as the report. These destinations of final-end use included destinations such as New Zealand and Norway, as well as Saudi Arabia.
Previous reports published by my Department included details of the destination of final end-use of military exports. Future reports will include these destinations in the body of the reports.
Where the destination of final end-use differs from the licensed destination, my Department receives information on the ultimate end-use and end-user of the product and seeks a declaration that where the final product is being re-exported it will be done so under a licence issued by the national licensing authority. The licence is then issued by my Department in the name of the systems integrator. Any export of the finished item is made under a licence issued by the national licensing authority.
I am committed to providing transparency on my Department’s export licensing regime and the report covering the period 2013 to 2014 provided greater transparency in two important areas. It was the first report to provide the value of actual exports made under global licences. It provided greater detail in the breakdown of the destination and licence value of individual dual-use export licences. Whereas previous reports confirmed whether the total value of export licences issued in respect of a particular destination was above or below €100,000, the report covering the period 2013 to 2014 gave the number of licences issued across three different value bands. These reports are published in addition to the summary data on the export of controlled products which is published on my Department’s website on a six-monthly basis.
21. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which industry will benefit from innovation and technology in the future, with particular reference to the maximisation of economic opportunities through these media; if the availability of extra employment opportunities will arise therefrom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2076/16]
View answerInnovation 2020, Ireland's new strategy for Research and Development, Science and Technology was launched by An Taoiseach in December. This strategy is based on a shared vision of Ireland becoming a Global Innovation Leader, driving a strong, sustainable, high employment economy and a better society enjoying a good quality of life.
Innovation plays a central role in driving productivity growth and fostering competitiveness in a global world where knowledge and innovation are critical factors for advanced economies. Innovation contributes significantly to employment, export and investment growth; the competitiveness of indigenous enterprise; embedding the Foreign Direct Investment base in Ireland; and the creation and application of new knowledge and technology spillovers.
Innovation is key to ensuring that our enterprise base remains resilient and internationally competitive. We are putting in place the supports to encourage greater engagement in R&D by both Irish and foreign owned enterprises and by both SMEs and large scale enterprises. We will continue to target our investment at strategically important areas of commercial opportunity for enterprise and achieve innovation leadership in key sectors where we can sustain a competitive edge.
The transfer of knowledge from our public research system to enterprise continues to be central to our strategy. That means a keen focus on delivering research outputs with commercial potential through licenses and spinouts and delivering talent.
Achieving the vision outlined in Innovation 2020 will mean that there will be:
- More enterprises engaged in RDI, including enterprises in the locally traded sectors, to drive productivity performance;
- More enterprises progressing from early engagement with RDI to embedding innovation as a key part of their business model in a self-sustaining way;
- Businesses across the enterprise base embracing new technologies to build successful business models;
- Achieving innovation leadership in key sectors where we can sustain a competitive edge;
- Greater utilisation by enterprises of the research assets of our Higher Education Institutes, by engaging with Research Centres and Technology Centres;
- Greater success in translating intellectual property or new thinking into commercial products and services – by providing better supports for knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship, infrastructure for test-bedding, and access to funding.
22. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his engagement with other State agencies, such as the Industrial Development Agency Ireland and the National Transport Authority, regarding access and mobility into and around the Parkmore Business Park in County Galway, which is the site of companies employing over 6,000 persons; and his short-term and long-term plans to remedy the problems. [2074/16]
View answerEarlier this month IDA Ireland announced the highest level of employment in its client companies in its 67 year history. Total employment at overseas companies now stands at 187,056 people, the highest level on record. IDA client companies in Galway have been very successful, creating 6,156 new jobs in the period 2011 to 2015.
Parkmore Business Park in Galway is a large, primarily industrial, complex that currently provides 6,000 jobs.
IDA Ireland’s property department has been working over the past year to explore various options to alleviate the traffic congestion at Parkmore.
I have been assured by IDA Ireland that it continues to work to resolve this issue. The agency is also a member of the Parkmore Traffic Action Group, which was set up in October 2015 on foot of an urgent meeting with Galway City and County Councils and representatives of companies in the park. It is heartening to see local stakeholders working together to advance a solution to address the congestion issue. This is the type of collaborative “bottom-up” approach that is at the heart of the Regional Action Plans.
I will also engage with local authority officials if it is of assistance.
23. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will build an advanced Industrial Development Agency Ireland unit adjacent to Ireland West Airport in Knock in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2091/16]
View answerLast February, I announced the development of Action Plans for each region in the country. To support this, IDA Ireland is leading a five-year €150 million capital investment programme to help attract more multinational jobs into each region.
IDA Ireland has begun a three-year building programme for state-of-the-art advanced technology buildings and office facilities in a number of regional locations where there has so far been insufficient private sector investment. The sites chosen were based on a number of criteria including population density, cluster of activities of other companies in the area and the presence of third level institutions. It is important to note that all investment is targeted at potential investment wins and associated job creation opportunities.
The Government announced in 2015 that three locations – Sligo, Tralee and Castlebar, which is in county Mayo – would be the key focus for the 2015 investment programme. In 2016 IDA Ireland plans to deliver facilities in Galway, Dundalk and Limerick, followed by Athlone, Carlow and Waterford in 2017.
In addition to the provision of two advanced building solutions by IDA Ireland in the West region, the Regional Action Plan for the counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon contains almost 200 actions for delivery by public bodies and the enterprise sector which will support enterprise growth and job creation in the region. The cumulative effect of this should make a real and lasting impact on the job-creation potential of the region.
24. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions he will take to address zero-hour and low-hour contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2096/16]
View answerThe Statement of Government Priorities, July 2014 committed to conduct a study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts among Irish employers and their impact on employees and make policy recommendations to Government on foot of this. The University of Limerick was appointed in February 2015, following a competitive tendering process, to carry out a study into the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts in the Irish economy and their impact on employees.
The study, published in November, 2015, found that zero hour contracts as defined within current Irish employment rights legislation are not extensively used in Ireland. It found low working hours can arise in different forms in employment contracts, such as regular part-time contracts with fixed hours or a contract with “If and when” hours only or a hybrid of the two. If and when contracts are contracts where workers are not contractually required to make themselves available for work.
The UL report made a range of recommendations relating to contracts, hours of work and notice, minimum hours, how contracted hours should be determined, collective agreements, data gathering and wider contextual issues.
It is important to point out that the UL study was an independent study and the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made in it are those of UL. Therefore, it was essential that the various stakeholders who contributed to the study and indeed other interested parties who may not have had an opportunity to engage with UL, were given an opportunity to consider and respond to the report.
To this end, my Department sought submissions from interested parties by way of a Public Consultation. A large number of submissions were received by 4 January 2016, the closing date for receipt of such submissions. The responses contain a variety of views both for and against the findings and recommendations as made by UL, which will require careful consideration by my Department over the coming period. This will inform the policy response to be considered by Government arising from the study.
25. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is aware of the impact of the winding-down of construction on the Corrib gas field on employment in County Mayo; if he has engaged with the agencies in the area on a transition plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2090/16]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the Corrib Gas Field is part of the Erris Peninsula – a Gaeltacht area – and falls within the remit of Údarás na Gaeltachta. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) exists since 2009 between Enterprise Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta in relation to areas of cooperation and coordination between the two agencies. As part of this MOU I understand that:
- The Corrib Gas Field refinery will employ 175 full-time equivalents when fully operational;
- Údarás has held meetings with Shell (Erris Development Fund) where upskilling/retraining programmes were discussed. A training programme for 24 welding apprentices is currently being finalised;
- Údarás has provided administration space for Shell in Belmullet over a number of years where approximately fifty staff are employed. It is expected that this figure will grow or at least remain constant into the future;
- Údarás, in conjunction primarily with SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) and other partners, have been seeking employment opportunities in the renewable energy sphere. Small projects are now beginning to materialise and provide cost saving benefits for the community and provide local jobs.
As part of the West Action Plan for Jobs which was launched last November, IDA Ireland are supporting 18 companies in Co. Mayo employing roughly 4,000 people in total. IDA is currently undertaking a property investment programme, amounting to €150m over five years, in support of further job creation in regional locations. The agency has obtained planning permission to construct an Advanced Technology Building facility in Castlebar in 2016.
One of the specific actions of the Plan is the involvement that Enterprise Ireland will have with Westport Multi-agency Enterprise Ltd to open the new enterprise centre in Westport. Also, the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) will disburse over €3 million in grant funding, and provide mentoring support to over 1,000 businesses per year.
This is a positive development for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the regions, including Mayo, allowing such locations to compete with locations internationally.
I am convinced that with the right support from Government through the West Plan, and by continuing the collaborative approach right across the region, we can deliver 25,000 extra jobs over the coming years.
