Vol. 576 No. 5
58 Mr. Hogan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if, since 2000, there were cases in which jobs that she announced would be created in enterprises did not subsequently materialise; if so, the number of jobs and the enterprises involved; the reasons such jobs did not materialise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30057/03]
Job announcements of new greenfield and expansion projects are made when negotiations have been completed and the projects have been approved by the relevant State development agency and, where required, the Government. A total of 127 such projects with a job content of 15,168 have been announced since 2000. Three of these projects, Sumicem, Thomson NETg and Quantum Electronics, with a job content of 533, have indicated that they will not proceed. There has always been an unavoidable element of risk that some change in circumstances between approval of the project and the final stages of implementation of the project will occur which will impact on the achievement of all the jobs projected for a particular project. This is not surprising since the time period from approval to the final stage of implementation is usually in the order of several years.
Examples of the circumstances referred to include an unforeseen change specific to the investing company's business situation or environment or, as witnessed in the past two years or so, a global economic downturn that impacts on the investment plans and strategies of companies in several sectors. In many cases the result of the changed circumstances is a delay, alteration or, in some cases, a total cancellation of a planned investment project. In these circumstances the State development agencies have clauses in the relevant grant agreement designed to ensure that the State does not grant-aid projects that do not materialise or fail to reach agreed levels of employment.
There is usually a time lag between job announcements and the creation of jobs projected to be achieved over a number of years. There is usually a one to three year time lag between job project announcements and the jobs coming on stream. Therefore, only a small number of jobs announced in a given year will be created within the year of the job announcement. In 2002, companies supported by the development agencies created over 25,000 permanent full-time jobs. This represents a strong performance in the face of the downturn in global economic activity. Data from the Forfás annual employment survey on the performance in 2003 will be available at the beginning of next year.
I am interested in the fact that announcements are made at sensitive political times, for example, just before the last general election. The Tánaiste, in the company of two Progressive Democrats candidates, made a major announcement of jobs for Thomson NETg in Limerick and Birr on 18 April 2002 and promised 360 jobs for these locations. I am sure she can understand the frustration of workers and communities when these jobs subsequently did not proceed.
Even with the best will in the world, surely the rush to make these announcements still involved our State agencies' understanding of the financial well-being of the company involved and its medium and short-term strategy regarding its European operations. Will the Tánaiste agree that the headlong rush to make these announcements in advance of the general election, for Macroom, Longford, Birr, Limerick and Galway, led people to believe that the jobs were real and were about to be created? Will she agree that the inordinate number of jobs which failed to proceed or progress leads people to the conclusion that these announcements were for phantom jobs announced for the purposes of electoral gain?
I totally and utterly reject the Deputy's suggestion. I remind him that my predecessor and I have observed the protocol which is in place in respect of job announcements in the immediate election period. That is the way it should be. Job announcements are to a large extent determined by the companies, when grant approval has been given. Many companies apply for planning permission before job announcements are made. Local information is often available about projects before they are announced. Additional jobs at the Seagate plant in Clonmel, announced during the rainbow coalition's period in office, did not materialise. Nobody suggested that the announcement was partisan in any way and I am not making such a suggestion now. The reality is that circumstances in global economy change—
The former Deputy Michael Ferris got it in the neck.
He did not get it in the neck from me. I am not certain that the Deputy is right. I was at many meetings around that time. Everybody understands the reality of the competitive environment in which we work.
I would like to put things in perspective. Over 15,500 jobs have been announced since 2000, of which 533 are not proceeding. It was announced in recent weeks that the proposed expansion to the Birr operation of Thomson NETg, which has a major facility at Limerick, will not proceed. The project was approved by the board of IDA Ireland. Is somebody seriously suggesting that an international company and the board of our development agency were involved in a partisan announcement? If Deputy Hogan reflects on the matter, he will appreciate that it is not the case. Many jobs which are created with the benefit of grant aid are not announced because the company in question does not wish to announce them, for whatever reason. I have been involved in many projects in respect of which there has been no public announcement, in deference to the wishes of the company. I do not accept that my colleagues or I were involved in electioneering on the back of job announcements in the instance mentioned by Deputy Hogan or on any other occasion.
I cannot allow Deputy Hogan to contribute further because the six minutes allowed for this question have elapsed.
I did not use any of it.
Sorry, Deputy—
If the Tánaiste wants to read out a long reply to a very simple question—
The Deputy took two minutes to ask a question, which mainly took the form of a statement.
I have to respond to the Tánaiste's reply.
Priority Questions are specifically for one Member. The Chair allows a certain amount of flexibility in the Member's use of his or her time. I suggest that Deputies should confine themselves to short questions so that—
What about short answers?
—they will have an opportunity to ask more than one supplementary question.
Will Ministers confine themselves to short answers?
We have to move on to Question No. 59.
We will come back to this matter.
