Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

European Competitiveness Council: Discussion

2:00 pm

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

There is no disputing that. Manufacturing used to employ much more than 300,000 people. There has been a long-term decline in the sector. As the Senator knows, we have instituted a manufacturing forum and are implementing a policy to promote manufacturing. The recession had a significant impact on job losses. However, the past three quarters have seen industry starting to add employment. This reflects the success of Irish business, particularly the food sector, in being innovative and internationalising. A number of sectors are driving export performance. If one looked beneath the Enterprise Ireland figures, one would see that companies that used to export to the UK had diversified further afield. Enterprise is responding to the challenge by seeking out new markets and being more innovative, but there is still a long way to go.

I congratulate the committee on its south east development strategy, which has been sent to me. I will examine it in detail. The committee raised the issue of regional aid guidelines. We must produce a new guideline map. The difference between the Border, Midland and Western, BMW, and south east regions arose because the BMW was in transition from being a so-called A region - the most disadvantaged - to a so-called C region, the middle of the road. Being in transition meant that it received a premium over the State aid permitted in the C regions. Next time, all C regions will be on the same footing. The transition bonus for former A regions will no longer be available. Regions outside the more developed areas will be classified as C regions, comprising some 51% of the country, and they will be on a level playing field.

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