Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Site visits to County Wexford are increasing. In 2014 there was one site visit to the county, while in 2015 there were four such visits. By the end of September this year, six visits had taken place. It is certainly the case that the south east was badly affected by the economic crisis. I am pleased, however, that the employment situation there has improved remarkably in recent years. The unemployment rate, for example, has fallen from a peak of 20.1% in early 2012 to 10.4% now.

Client companies of both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland have contributed significantly to the improvement. In 2014 and 2015, those clients created a total of 5,181 new jobs in the south east, bringing total agency supported employment to 32,518 in the region.

The numbers show that the region is making significant progress, although much work remains to be done. The south-east regional Action Plan for Jobs, which was published by my Department last year, represents an important tool in our efforts to sustain the economic progress being made. Its goal is to have a further 25,000 people at work in the region by 2020 and to bring the unemployment level to within 1% of the State average.

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