Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2017
20. Deputy James Browne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to address the high unemployment black spots in the south-eastern region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30463/17]
View answerGovernment policy to reduce unemployment is two-fold. First, through policies set out in the national Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs and second, through Pathways to work to ensure that as many of the new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register.
The South East Action Plan for Jobs is another key Government response to supporting employment growth in the South East region.
The core objective of the Plan is to see a further 25,000 at work in the region by 2020 and to reduce the unemployment rate to within 1 percentage point of the State average.
The second progress report on the implementation of the Action Plan has just been published and shows that good progress continues to be made in implementing the actions. Almost 13,000 jobs were created in the South East since the regional Action Plans for Jobs initiative was launched in January 2015.
According to the CSO Quarterly National Household Survey, in Q1 2015 the unemployment rate in the South East was 12.8%. At Q1 2017, the most recent QNHS data available shows the unemployment rate in the South East has dropped by 3.5 percentage points to 9.3%.
Enterprise Ireland companies support over 23,000 jobs across the South East. Total employment among client companies of all LEOs in the region was 6,690 at the end of 2016. The South East is also home to 72 IDA client companies who collectively employ 13,369 people.
To support regional enterprise development, additional funding of up to €60m is being rolled out by Enterprise Ireland over the next 4 years to support the development and implementation of collaborative and innovative projects that can sustain and add to employment at a national, regional and county level.
In addition, additional funding of €150m is being made available to the IDA to support its Regional Property Programme and drive job creation in the multi-national sector.
