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Job Creation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2018

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Ceisteanna (110)

Aindrias Moynihan

Ceist:

110. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to increase employment opportunities in north-west areas of County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8705/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My Department, through its Enterprise Agencies, is committed to supporting indigenous and FDI businesses to grow, innovate and perform strongly in global markets.

I am delighted to say that 2017 was a particularly good year for job creation in Agency supported companies, with Enterprise Ireland client companies creating a total of 1,714 new full time jobs in County Cork, IDA client companies creating a total of 2,388 new full time jobs and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) creating 491 new full time jobs in County Cork.

Enterprise Ireland’s focus for 2018 is to help clients, including those located in West Cork, to build on the strength of their 2017 performance by supporting them to innovate, be competitive and to diversify their global footprint - key attributes required to be resilient to economic shocks, such as those emerging from any kind of Brexit. In delivering on this, new supports have been introduced, others streamlined, and a Global Ambition campaign launched.

Enterprise Ireland recognises the importance of strengthening enterprise capability across all regions of the country. On Monday, I launched the Second Call of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund. The first call under the Fund was announced in May 2017, with the results released in December. Twenty-one applicants representing all regions of the country secured a total of up to €30.5m in financial support for a range of enterprise and capability development projects. The second call will fund projects with the balance of the €60m remaining under the fund.

2017 was also a good year for regional job growth in Ireland, with 64% of new jobs created being located outside Dublin. It is important, however, not to become complacent and it is with this in mind that Enterprise Ireland will continue to implement its wider strategy contained in its Build Scale, Expand Reach 2017-2020 report, which includes aims such as:

- Assisting clients to create 60,000 new jobs by 2020 while sustaining the existing record level of jobs;

- Growing the annual exports of client companies by €5bn to €26bn per annum;

- Increasing the level of spend made by client companies in the Irish economy by €4bn to €27bn per annum by 2020; and

- Inspiring more Irish owned companies to have global ambition.

The three Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) located in Cork (Cork City, Cork South and Cork North and West) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports for anyone that intends to start or grow a business in the country. The LEOs operating in Cork have a total of 620 clients, employing 3,324 people.

IDA Ireland’s strategy, Winning Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019, sets out challenging targets in respect of the FDI sector for the period. Under the programme, IDA is targeting a minimum increase in investment of 30% to 40% in each region outside Dublin.

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