Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 July 2016
55. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to address the high levels of unemployment in the north west; and if she is aware that almost 120,000 persons in rural Ireland are still without jobs. [22550/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe unemployment rate for the Border region, which encompasses the North West, has fallen from a peak of 15.6% in Q1 2013 to 8.6% in early 2016 – marginally above the State average of 8.4%. Whilst numbers are decreasing we still have a body of work to do for regional and rural Ireland.
The North East/ North West Action Plan for Jobs aims to deliver 28,000 extra jobs to Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Louth, Monaghan, and Cavan by 2020.
Key targets in service of this goal include a 30 - 40% increase in IDA investments up to 2019; and an increase of 300 to 500 in numbers of Údarás na Gaeltachta supported jobs in the North West. Sectors targeted include traditionally strong sectors like agrifood, manufacturing/engineering and tourism, as well as future growth areas such as digital payments, cleantech and creative services.
Key actions to be delivered over 2015-2017 include a new IDA Advanced Building Solution in Sligo; the establishment of a North West Regional Skills Forum to ensure the flow of critical skills to local enterprises; collaboration between the Enterprise Agencies, ETBs and Institutes of Technology to develop a marketing proposition around the Insurance and Technical Services cluster in the North West; and a Regional Innovation Forum for the North East/North West region to support more companies to innovate and engage in R&D.
In some regions employment growth has been slower than in others. The Regional Action Plan process is about addressing that imbalance. While 120,000 is still too high, unemployment has fallen in all eight regions in the year to Q1 2016. In this regard, it is important to record that, in 2015, almost two-thirds of the 21,118 new jobs created by Enterprise Ireland companies were outside Dublin. Also in 2015, of the record 187,056 employed in IDA companies, 59% were employed outside Dublin.
