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

I assure the Deputy that every county, including Tipperary, is included in our regional strategy. No one is excluded. The annual employment survey shows that 68 jobs were created and 77 were lost among IDA client companies in Tipperary in 2012. In 2013, 202 jobs were created while 521 were lost, and in 2014, 64 jobs were created while 62 were lost. In the same three-year period, there were a total of 12 site visits to County Tipperary: five in 2012, four in 2013 and three in 2014. For reasons of client confidentiality and commercial sensitivity, including the potential impact on any future property transactions that might arise from a possible investment, it is prudent to provide details of such visits on a county-by-county basis only, although the Deputy sought details for different parts of the county. While the IDA seeks to influence the choice of location, decisions on where to visit and where to locate are taken in all cases by the investor.

Since the economic crash, enterprises have been undergoing a difficult transition. Jobs in many sectors have proved unsustainable. For example, the number of people employed in construction in Tipperary fell by 4,800 during the crash. Progress is now being made, however. Employment in companies supported by both IDA and Enterprise Ireland grew in Tipperary in 2014 for the first time since the crash. In the last four years, unemployment levels have fallen in Tipperary by 2,754, which is a decrease of 16%. More needs to be done to build on this trend. The Action Plan for Jobs has been designed to introduce measures right across the Government to support job growth and reduce unemployment. We are determined to ensure that every region will benefit from the recovery.

Yesterday, I announced with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste the details of a comprehensive new strategy to support enterprise growth and job creation at regional level. The regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative seeks to build on the success of the annual Action Plan for Jobs at national level by developing locally driven plans that can build on the strengths and opportunities identified in each region. The strategy will provide up to €250 million over five years in additional funding to support regional enterprise development. This includes the roll-out of a five-year €150 million property investment programme by the IDA to attract foreign direct investment into the regions. This programme will build on the recent investment by the IDA in a number of advance manufacturing facilities in regional locations. A further sum of up to €100 million will be available to Enterprise Ireland to support enterprises in the regions in starting up, growing and exporting, thereby creating more jobs in regional locations.

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