Enterprise Ireland

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 January 2018

Thursday, 18 January 2018

Questions (150, 151)

Niall Collins

Question:

150. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Enterprise Ireland supported jobs by county; the number for Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and south Dublin in 2015, 2016 and 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2728/18]

Niall Collins

Question:

151. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Enterprise Ireland clients on a county basis; the number in the case of Dublin between Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and south Dublin in 2015, 2016 and 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2729/18]

Written answers

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

I propose to take Questions Nos. 150 and 151 together.

On 3 January 2018, Enterprise Ireland (EI) announced its 2017 end year results. The 2017 performance was strong, reporting the highest employment in the history of the agency, the highest net job creation in the history of the agency and the lowest number of job losses since 1998.

In 2017 EI supported client companies employed 209,338 people. 19,332 new jobs were created by EI backed companies in 2017.

This represents a net increase of 10,309 jobs for 2017, taking account of job losses. The job creation figures are up on 2016, despite the uncertainty that Irish businesses faced in 2017 in the context of Brexit.

Job creation was evenly spread across the country, with every county seeing job increases. Two thirds (64%) of the new jobs created were outside of Dublin. The West, Mid-West and North West saw the largest level of increases at 7% in 2017.

Enterprise Ireland attributes this strong performance by Irish businesses to the continuing growth of an entrepreneurial climate for start-ups, allied to strong jobs growth in the Construction (8% increase), Engineering (8% increase), Lifesciences (8% increase), Digital Technology (6% increase), Electronics (6% increase), Food (4% increase) and ICT sectors (5% increase).

2017 was the first year of EI’s strategy, Build Scale, Expand Reach 2017 – 2020. This Strategy is focused on:

- Assisting clients to create 60,000 new jobs by 2020 while sustaining the existing record level of jobs;

- Growing the annual exports of client companies by €5bn to €26bn per annum;

- Increasing the level of spend made by client companies in the Irish economy by €4bn to €27bn per annum by 2020; and

- Inspiring more Irish owned companies to have global ambition.

I am committed to work closely with Enterprise Ireland to drive this Strategy, to ensure that it continues to support companies in urban and rural areas to start, innovate, increase our exports and remain competitive in international markets, now and into the future. In recent months, with the support of my Department, EI has launched new measures to strengthen the rural and regional economy and to provide quicker access to innovation funding for exporting companies. This includes the new €60m Regional Enterprise Development Fund and a new fast-track Agile Innovation Fund.

Table 1 presents employment in Enterprise Ireland supported companies by county. Table 2 presents employment in Enterprise Ireland supported companies in each of the Dublin Boroughs.

Table 1: Employment in Enterprise Ireland Supported Companies by County

County	2015	2016	2017
Carlow	2,852	2,973	3,034
Cavan	4,905	5,221	5,451
Clare	3,255	3,444	3,709
Cork	23,955	24,936	25,975
Donegal	3,567	3,581	3,552
Dublin	66,866	70,365	72,461
Galway	7,278	7,294	8,103
Kerry	4,678	4,677	4,866
Kildare	8,308	8,632	9,134
Kilkenny	3,921	4,167	4,276
Laois	1,297	1,385	1,473
Leitrim	820	922	559
Limerick	6,777	7,954	8,269
Longford	2,628	2,886	2,970
Louth	5,600	5,819	6,121
Mayo	3,667	3,856	4,118
Meath	6,855	7,007	7,302
Monaghan	4,819	5,168	5,366
Offaly	3,794	3,941	4,281
Roscommon	1,686	1,688	1,776
Sligo	1,723	1,546	1,733
Tipperary	5,264	5,352	5,907
Waterford	5,561	5,721	6,359
Westmeath	3,548	3,653	3,741
Wexford	4,696	4,816	4,670
Wicklow	3,903	4,104	4,132
Total	192,223	201,108	209,338

Table 2: Employment in Enterprise Ireland Supported Companies in each of the Dublin Boroughs

County	2015	2016	2017
Dublin City	35,303	36,685	37,419
Dublin Fingal	8,547	8,855	9,979
Dublin South County	12,932	14,201	13,819
Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown	10,084	10,624	11,244
Dublin	66,866	70,365	72,461

Table 3 presents the number of EI clients on a county basis. Table 4 presents the number of EI clients in each of the four Dublin boroughs.

Table 3: Number of EI clients on a county basis

County	2015	2016	2017
Carlow	85	85	82
Cavan	78	79	78
Clare	139	143	131
Cork	599	580	568
Donegal	142	139	125
Dublin	2073	2104	2197
Galway	246	257	257
Kerry	117	114	127
Kildare	174	182	192
Kilkenny	111	114	116
Laois	56	54	55
Leitrim	33	29	25
Limerick	240	245	250
Longford	45	49	50
Louth	156	156	154
Mayo	110	114	115
Meath	164	169	170
Monaghan	107	106	104
Offaly	67	67	69
Roscommon	51	53	51
Sligo	69	69	69
Tipperary	122	117	123
Waterford	135	138	143
Westmeath	100	99	114
Wexford	123	123	122
Wicklow	163	166	161
Total	5505	5551	5648

Table 4: Number of EI clients in Dublin by Borough

Dublin Boroughs	2015	2016	2017
Dublin City	1,089	1,109	1,174
Dublin Fingal	282	281	289
Dublin South County	336	350	370
Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown	366	364	364
Dublin	2073	2104	2197

Data sourced from the Annual Employment Survey 2015, 2016 and 2017.