Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 May 2023
171. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which job creation in manufacturing and the service areas continues throughout County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22328/23]
View answer172. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which he continues to remain satisfied that job creation continues as required in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22329/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 171 and 172 together.
My Department’s Statement of Strategy sets out a vision of making Ireland the best place to succeed in business in all parts of our country, with vibrant enterprises, more high-quality employment, growing trade, fair workplaces and higher productivity.
The past two years have seen strong employment growth and my Department, through its Agencies, is committed to providing continued supports to assistant job creation throughout the regions.
Enterprise Ireland saw the creation of 597 new jobs by Enterprise Ireland client companies in Kildare in 2022. The jobs growth translates into a net increase of 184 jobs created in the county in 2022.
Enterprise Ireland companies now employ 9,270 people in 155 companies in County Kildare, an increase of just over 2% on the 2021 outturn.
Powering the Regions, is Enterprise Ireland’s response to recent Government Regional Initiatives. It provides an overarching national plan underpinned by nine regional specific plans, to grow and sustain jobs, and to expand the reach of the Enterprise Ireland client base in every county and region in Ireland.
The Mid-East Regional Plan to 2024 identifies strategic objectives and actions to be undertaken in County Kildare as follows:
- Development of the Athy Food, Drink & Skills Innovation Hub which will unlock the potential of a vacant historic resource – the old Model School to provide a state-of-the-art place to work, connect and train.
- The Mid-East Regional Innovation Think Space (MERITS) in Naas, Co Kildare is now open, providing an on-demand learning environment for entrepreneurs across multiple sectors. Supported by Enterprise Ireland under the Regional Enterprise Development Fund, the completed centre will provide space for over 100 technology workers.
- Establish the first National Equine Innovation Centre in Ireland at the Irish National Stud in Kildare transforming the old National Stud Museum into an equine innovation centre jointly funded by Kildare Leader Partnership and Kildare County Council.
- Develop programmes and training for the equine sector and the possible expansion of the Equine Innovation Centre
- Conduct a feasibility study for the development of a regional green technology enterprise hub to provide training on low carbon transitioning, circular economy and green opportunities.
- The development of a green investment and enterprise zone in Allenwood Co Kildare where ACDAL has secured Just Transition funding to develop serviced sites for up to 16 new / relocating green manufacturing and service enterprises with potential to create 160 new jobs on this former ESB/Bord na Mona site.
Regional development is also at the centre of the IDA’s strategy. The IDA is committed to the pursuit of more balanced, compact regional development which can deliver complementary efficiency and equity gains, with the overall impact of helping to advance national development. IDA will target half of all investments (400) from 2021- 2024 to regional locations and maintain the same high level of investment as targeted in IDA’s previous strategy for each region of the country.
There are 113 IDA client companies in the Mid-East Region (Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow), employing 21,861 people of which 39 are in Kildare and employ approximately 12,174 people. There has been a 25% increase year on year in the numbers employed in Kildare in FDI in 2022.
Recent announcements in Kildare include in November a €28M investment by Lufthansa Technik Turbine Shannon, the Irish subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG in Celbridge, Co Kildare. The new custom-built operation already employs 30 highly skilled personnel, with plans to more than double this number to 65 within the next two years, as the business grows. Diageo announced in July plans to invest €200 million in Ireland’s first purpose-built carbon neutral brewery on a greenfield site in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. This will involve 1,000 jobs being created during the construction of the site, and 50 once built.
The FDI performance in the region has been consistent over the past five years with employment among IDA clients increasing by 30%. Counties in the Mid-East also benefit hugely from the direct and indirect employment generated by IDA client companies located in Dublin. The Mid-East has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across Technology, Life Sciences, International Financial Services and Engineering & Industrial Technologies. It has also won significant investment in the Food and the Film sub-sectors.
In addition, the Local Enterprise Office in Kildare assist entrepreneurs and business owners and managers through its business advisors, training and development programmes and mentoring support. They also provide grant assistance to small businesses operating in the Manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors to enable them to start-up and grow.
Clients of the Local Enterprise Office in Kildare have contributed the following jobs growth figures for the past 2 years:
|
Gross Gains - 2021 |
Net Gains - 2021 |
Gross Gains - 2022 |
Net Gains - 2022 |
|
254 |
29 |
284 |
148 |
