Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 February 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Development of Indigenous Irish Enterprise: Discussion

Mr. Leo Clancy:

At this point in time, Enterprise Ireland does not have a specific programme that is focused on unemployment black spots. However, one could argue that all of our programmes are targeted at unemployment black spots. We have a unique opportunity now. Everywhere I go, in particular over the past six months, I hear there is massive demand from employers for labour and skills. We are very happy offline from this meeting to understand more fully the unemployment black spots and what has been done to date. We have made a number of investments under the regional enterprise development fund with Innovate Limerick and in various other spaces to ensure that Limerick is enabled to grow. Companies in the region are very focused on how they access skills. We have a number of programmes in that regard. As I said, Enterprise Ireland is more than happy to meet colleagues in Limerick to understand if there is something we can do in a targeted way to address the issue. We do have the tools within our current toolboxes to do something in this regard. I am happy to engage offline with the Chairman. I will pass over to Mr. McElwee for brief comment.