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

I am conscious of the challenges facing the south-east and that is why I commissioned Forfás to undertake the south-east regional employment action plan. I initiated the south-east forum which bring together the agencies and stakeholders involved. Work is going on to implement that plan and significant progress has been made. Since 2011, there have been 79 IDA-sposored site visits by potential investors to the region which is almost double the number which took place in the 2008 to 2010 period.

An additional 15,000 jobs have been created in the region, resulting in the unemployment rate having dropped from 18.8% to 15.5% in 2013. There have been significant gains for the region, including a major investment by Glanbia in Belview which will provide 1,600 direct and indirect jobs, as well as an additional 450 jobs during the construction phase. In 2013, Sanofi announced plans to invest €44 million in Genzyme's biotechnology campus in Waterford. Also last year, Nypro Healthcare announced plans to establish an additional state-of-the-art medical device facility in Waterford, which will result in the creation of over 200 high quality jobs. Eishtec, the call centre operator, has in the region of 750 staff between its Waterford and Wexford sites. The company aims to bring that total to approximately 900 by this summer.

The local enterprise offices have been busy, as well. We are committed to the construction of a 2,348 sq. m facility in the IDA technology park on the Cork Road in Waterford. We are proceeding across the spectrum of initiatives that were outlined in the plan. We have a long way to go but clearly the improvement in employment is encouraging.

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