Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 8 Apr 1997

Vol. 477 No. 2

Written Answers - Job Creation.

Ray Burke

Ceist:

260 Mr. R. Burke asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the major unemployment problem in Balbriggan, County Dublin; and the proposals, if any, he has to increase employment opportunities in the area. [9087/97]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

There are a substantial range of measures and projects in the Balbriggan area or accessible to its residents being provided by the agencies for which I have responsibility. These are all geared towards increasing both employment opportunities and the skills of unemployed persons in the area.

IDA Ireland's client companies have delivered 5,793 jobs in Fingal in 1996 making it one of the fastest growing areas in Ireland for IDA job creation in recent years. With the completion of the northern cross route of the M50, all the main IDA business parks are within a ten to 15 minute commute of each other, making the major job creators readily accessible to residents of Balbriggan.

IDA Ireland has a four acre serviced site available at the IDA Business Park in Balbriggan, and combined with the adjacent new IDA secured investments in Swords, the Balbriggan catchment area will continue to experience substantial net jobs growth from IDA clients.

Fingal County Enterprise Board (CEB) has been working with IDA Ireland and the Development Department of Fingal County Council to attract a project to the Stephenstown Lands, Balbriggan. Arising from this, a site has been identified in the town for an enterprise centre, the preparatory work for which is now under way. To develop this facility Fingal CEB in conjunction with FÁS has employed an enterprise worker under the auspices of the Balbriggan enterprise group, who is currently based in Balbriggan.

To date six projects have been approved by Fingal CEB in the Balbriggan area to the value of £1.9 million in grants. These projects, which include manufacturing and services companies, have generated 18 jobs to date.

Fingal CEB has been working closely with a working group seeking urban renewal status for Balbriggan. I understand that the group's strategic plan, which will be submitted to the Department of the Environment, is now almost complete.

Forbairt provides a wide range of services and customised programmes targeted at the more rapid development of the indigenous sector in north County Dublin, including Balbriggan.

FÁS has a 400 place training centre located at Baldoyle which is serviced by commuter train from Balbriggan. The centre runs 30 courses which are designed to meet the needs of job-seekers and industry in the area. The range of courses is constantly being reviewed and updated to assist job-seekers to obtain employment.

Joe Walsh

Ceist:

261 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the number of jobs approved by the IDA and Forbairt for the country as a whole, for the south-west region and for the west Cork region in the past 12 months. [9165/97]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

The following are the job approval figures for Forbairt in 1996.

Jobs Approved 1996

Country	Cork City and County	South West Region
4,997	524	544

The following are the job announcement figures for IDA Ireland for 1996.

Jobs Announcements 1996

County	Cork City and County	South West Region
18,453	1,136	2,448

A breakdown for the west Cork region is not available. The figures are included in those for Cork city and county. Figures to date in 1997 are not yet available.