Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

ConnectIreland, which is a self-funded company that was set up by an entrepreneur, secured a five-year contract for the Succeed in Ireland programme from IDA Ireland in 2012. Seventy-nine international companies have been approved by IDA Ireland under the programme, with 2,411 jobs being created over three years. It is noteworthy, given that regional job creation is a big issue for us, that 66% of these jobs are in 15 counties outside Dublin. ConnectIreland has 78,285 connectors based in 147 countries. Some 44 of its 84 projects have involved 20 jobs or fewer. It is getting into our communities. ConnectIreland claims that IDA Ireland has not given it credit for many of the projects and jobs I have just mentioned. It is clear that there is a bit of a dispute between the two. The point is that ConnectIreland is delivering jobs at a fraction of the cost at which IDA Ireland is delivering jobs. The Minister has said she will commission a review of this matter. How long will the review take? Does she agree that the current Succeed in Ireland programme should be extended until that review has been completed? It is bringing in jobs and linking into a huge global network. If we do not use every avenue we have to create employment, particularly through a scheme that creates jobs more cheaply than IDA Ireland does, we will cut off our nose to spite our face.

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