Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2012
612. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on any new employment incentives to draw new companies into areas of disadvantage on the northside of Dublin. [38444/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is tackling unemployment generally through the twin strategies of the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work. The aim of the Action Pan for Jobs is to support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs by 2016, while the objective of Pathways to Work is to provide those who are unemployed with the appropriate training and skills to avail of the job opportunities which will arise as the economy recovers. Many young people will benefit from the opportunities provided through these programmes. The 2012 Action Plan for Jobs contains over 270 measures to be delivered across all 15 Government Departments and 36 State agencies. My Department and its agencies play a central role in the delivery of approximately 60% of those measures, and have a supporting role in many other actions.
Pathways to Work includes various training, education and work experience initiatives delivered by the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Social Protection. Under Pathways to Work, the Department of Social Protection is committed to supporting over 85,000 job placement, work experience and Back to Education beneficiaries this year, including through the JobBridge internship programme.
The Department of Education and Skills will provide over 450,000 education and training places this year across the range of provision in the higher education, further education and training sectors. These places will include provision for school leavers, although the long-term unemployed are a priority target. The twin strategies outlined are available to businesses and unemployed persons from the North side of Dublin. It is not possible to set detailed location-specific job targets for the Enterprise Agencies because many of their activities are enterprise-led rather than agency-led.
All of the agencies have regional structures to maximise local opportunities. This regional spread allows the agencies to drive take-up of their services and supports such as entrepreneurship programmes focused on identifying new business opportunities at a local level. In addition, Enterprise Ireland has a network of 110 Community Enterprise Centres in operation across the regions, including six on the North side of Dublin.
