Thomas P. Broughan
Question:42. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to promote employment in Dublin Bay North and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22545/16]
View answerWednesday, 20 July 2016
Questions (42)
Oral answers (4 contributions)
This question is really about the record of the former Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton. Although Dublin Bay North is close to major infrastructural centres such as Dublin Airport and Dublin Port, its unemployment rates remain quite high. The live register for Coolock for last month showed that 3,668 people were signing on, of which just under 600 were young people under the age of 25. The live register for Kilbarrack showed that 3,712 people were signing on last month, of which 348 were under 25. What steps did the former Minister take, particularly in respect of his own constituency, to boost jobs?
The aim of the Government is to ensure that every region can achieve its economic potential and that the benefits of the recovery are felt in every region, county and community in the country. Significant progress has been made in the Dublin region. Since the national action plan for jobs was launched in 2012, more than 70,000 additional people are back at work in Dublin. This compares with job losses of 90,000 in the period from 2008 to 2011.
The process of rebuilding the capacity of all the regions was started with the roll out of eight regional action plans for jobs during the past year. The action plan for the Dublin region was launched last January. The plan aims to increase employment in the Dublin region by between 10% and 15% over the period to 2020, resulting in the delivery of 66,000 additional jobs to the region in that period. Key sectors targeted as part of the plan include areas like technology, financial services, life sciences, manufacturing, tourism, retail, "smart cities" and the creative industries.
The plan will be monitored and driven by an implementation committee comprising representatives from the enterprise sector, the local authorities, enterprise agencies and other public bodies in the region. Collaboration between the private and the public sector has been a core element in the plan's development and will be central to its delivery.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
By supporting SMEs, continuing to attract foreign direct investment and providing assistance to start-ups to grow and develop, we will see our recovery take hold which will result in improved standards of living for the people of Dublin.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. As he is aware, we are talking about a region with a population of 150,000 or so. The Minister of State will appreciate that the unemployment figures I read out are very high. Could he look at some of our more traditional industries? The Cadbury Mondelez plant in Coolock was threatened with a series of job losses. I raised this issue on numerous occasions with the former Minister in the previous Dáil. The last update I received from the Department about the plant was in March 2016. I was told that Enterprise Ireland was in contact with the company. What has happened on foot of that? Cadbury's was taken over firstly by Kraft and then by Mondelez, which is a Brazilian company. What is happening in this case of this plant?
There are many logistics and transport companies in Dublin Bay North. I heard the Minister say earlier that she is taking particular steps concerning Brexit. Has the area of logistics and transport been looked at given that we will be dealing with a different regime? I heard Deputy Durkan speak earlier about apprenticeships and third-level education.
I am not too familiar with the latest updates regarding the Cadbury plant but I will get it for the Deputy within a week and revert to him. The implementation committee is a collaboration between enterprise and public service groups and is led by Caroline Keeling, chief executive of Keelings, with Ronan Harris from Google is vice chairman. The Deputy is very well-known in the area. There is no point in me dishing out ten pages of statistics relating to the particular area. If the Deputy feels there are groupings of people the Department should meet to see how the region is affected, there is no problem with him bringing in interested bodies to meet the Department in August or September. The Minister and I would be delighted to meet the Deputy and any groups in that area to discuss the action plan for jobs, its implementation and how the area can benefit over the next couple of years.