Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Michael Conaghan for his kind comments. I agree with him that there are two dimensions to this challenge. It has been crucial to rebuild the export, enterprise, innovation-oriented economy. As the Deputy rightly observed, the domestic economy has more clusters of unemployment as a result of the collapse of the construction industry which had been at the core of much of the prosperity experienced by some of these areas. I take his point that the benefits are slow in trickling down. However, approximately 5,000 people are working on IDA Ireland-sponsored construction sites. IDA Ireland has had a very good year, with an extra 6,500 people at work. The expansion in construction has had a real knock-on impact on job creation in communities.

We want to see new capital expenditure projects. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, is trying to find new ways of funding such projects. A fortnight ago €150 million of additional spending was approved for road, school and energy projects. I acknowledge that people like to hear about big engineering projects, but the funding for retrofitting projects to save energy provided a return of approximately 30 jobs per €1 million expended, while the return on the big capital projects is fewer than ten jobs. In employment terms, there is more bang for our buck in some of the smaller scale projects.

I agree that digital gaming and the work of Ballyfermot College in that area present a real opportunity for us in this rapidly changing environment.

We have set up a group to examine how we can position ourselves in that regard.

There is a great deal happening in the social enterprise area. As we move towards a more broadly based recovery, we will begin to see the returns from the work being done by the Department of Social Protection in turning the welfare system from one which supported people who were idle - indeed, required them to be idle to qualify for benefits - to one which places a greater emphasis on activation. There are 90,000 opportunities between the various programmes, including JobBridge, Momentum, Springboard, community employment schemes, JobsPlus and so on. We are developing a suite of interventions which will prove their worth as the broader economy lifts. We are beginning to see that lift already. Last year, 10,000 people secured employment in export-orientated companies, and 10,000 in the broader economy.

As I said, that wider lift is beginning to emerge, and we have to build on the momentum. I have no objection to being held to account for our targets, but it should be noted that the overall target relates to 2016. I never said we would have an even, straight-line graph, with 20,000 jobs created in year one, 20,000 in year two and so on. That was always going to be totally unrealistic coming off a situation where the economy was shedding 90,000 jobs per year. It is not possible overnight to turn around a graph that is falling on such a sharp trajectory. I see the progress we have been making as a steady turnaround. I am not looking for plaudits for it, but the path we are on is clear and, very importantly, it is sustainable. Clearly, there is more to do and our efforts are focused on it every day.

Senator David Cullinane is right to point out some of the areas of opportunity, the agriculture sector certainly being one of them. Glanbia, for example, has nailed its colours to the mast in the Senator's region with its large investment, which will, between direct employment and gains for suppliers, support 1,600 additional jobs. The Kerry Group has committed to a major project which will provide 900 additional jobs in the high-technology end of food production. Those projects are all backed by my Department as part of our efforts to develop the sector. Also in the Senator's area, Dr. Willie Donnelly is doing interesting work at Waterford Institute of Technology on smart agriculture and how it can be rolled out. There is a real opportunity there, particularly in the south-eastern area. There is a fight-back occurring in the region and we support that ambition.

The Senator also referred to property issues. IDA Ireland has applied for planning permission in Waterford in order to position itself to provide the types of property solutions that are needed. The grant rates are set by the European Union, but the new regional aid guidelines offer some scope for adjustment in the regional aid map. There is work ongoing in this regard. We have moved from the initial position where there would have been real threats to C regions which would undermine their capacity to support large companies. We managed, by and large, to fight off that deterioration in the regional aid guidelines and are now in a position to maintain support levels. There is, for instance, a great deal happening in the whole life sciences area, as I outlined earlier.

In regard to tourism, I had a chance to taste some of the tourism products on offer in the Senator's area before I left yesterday evening. We are engaged in a range of initiatives in this area. Microfinance is entirely new for the tourism sector, for example, as is the extension of the seed capital scheme. There are significant supports available for tourism start-ups which were not in place 18 months ago. It is a message we are eager to get out.

I have met many people who expressed concerns regarding the revaluation process that is ongoing in the Waterford area. It comes at the same time as the amalgamation whereby new rating poundages are being set in the three local authorities. I am acutely aware of the concerns in this regard. The basis of any valuation, as I understand it, is always the same, namely, that it derives from an estimation of the rental value which a property would secure on an appointed day. I understand a date in October 2011 was the day appointed in the case of Waterford. Values have not been set there since 1988 and are clearly way out of kilter, which has resulted in both winners and losers under the revaluation scheme. I understand the point the Senator is making.

Deputy Seán Kyne referred to the future of the construction industry. As we have learned to our cost, a great deal of the success or otherwise of that sector depends on the underlying demand. We cannot simply pump it up to a level which outstretches that underlying demand. We are hopeful that there is some recovery of demand in certain parts of the country. We are also building the underlying demand via new ways of funding public capital projects, as I mentioned. In addition, some of the investment in export-oriented companies will have a construction employment return, an aspect highlighted in the recent report by Forfás on the construction sector. There are areas where we can continue to build. The exporting of construction services is running to something like €500 million, which is quite significant in itself. In the case of some of the services we have developed, we are able to keep people at work through the marketing of those services overseas. It is a difficult time for the construction sector and we must do as much as we can while ensuring projects are sustainable. That is the message from our recent experience.

I am happy to accept any claim of having originated a good idea that works. We do not show any greed over here as to the source of these ideas. If a proposal works, we are happy to take it on board. There are no employment grants in county enterprise boards, but there are grants for the development of a business which are totally unrelated to the grants available for start-ups. The purpose of the develop grants is essentially to encourage people who are recruiting to take on people from the live register who are long-term unemployed. This initiative does not conflict with the other supports to which a new start-up is entitled through the tax code or otherwise.

I strongly endorse the point about communities working together. All the evidence regarding successful regional strategies suggests that they come down to the ambition of individuals who get together and seek to drive progress. All the successful clusters begin with people who put themselves out to make things happen. It is very important as we build our local enterprise office structures that we work with people who are willing to be leaders in their own community and build a competitive edge for their region. All of the literature suggests that the special ingredient or secret of regional success is individuals stepping up and trying to make something work. It is our job to support them.

Part of that endeavour should include a debate on what is involved in a successful regional strategy. It is not about saying that IDA Ireland should move thousands of jobs into X or Y region; that is not how successful regions work. Rather, it is about building off one's strengths and developing strengths where they are lacking. We need an honest debate on what we can do to encourage a stronger regional strategy. For the Department, it is a question of considering how our services - which are enterprise-facing services - can participate in a broader regional growth strategy which plays to our competitive strengths. The action plan for the south east has already seen leaders emerge. Eishtec is an extraordinary example, with three individuals working to create 550 jobs out of the ashes of something else. They have the ambition to continue to grow that enterprise. We need an open debate on how we can help to support those types of enterprises.

This probably goes back to what Senator Feargal Quinn, who is a wily old critter at this stage, said about entrepreneurship and encouraging people to develop enterprises in their regions. Perhaps on another occasion we might discuss how we can best position ourselves to drive successful regional growth.