Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Heydon for tabling the question and Deputy Durkan for putting it.

Geoscience Ireland, GI, is an initiative under my Department managed through the Geological Survey of Ireland, GSI. Geoscience Ireland is a business cluster of 31 indigenous Irish companies operating in the geoscience sector. The cluster is managed by the GSI, with support from Enterprise Ireland, EI, and a steering committee that also includes representation from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  

GI was formed to maintain and create jobs in the geoscience sector by bringing together Irish companies to collaborate to win work overseas. It has been hugely successful to date with a net increase in job numbers of more than 470 since 2012. In 2015, the cumulative turnover of Geoscience Ireland companies was in excess of €310 million, 69% or €215 million of which was generated by exports.

The minerals sector has been estimated as having a value of over €800 million to the economy. Geoscience Ireland, along with the GSI and EI, co-operates closely to promote the Irish geoscience sector. GI is also becoming recognised both nationally and internationally as a successful model for the creation and development of a sectoral cluster, with its expertise increasingly being shared with other initiatives in Ireland.

GI member companies reported that 179 net new jobs were created in 2016. Those companies based or headquartered in County Kildare created a total of 46 net new jobs in 2016. It is estimated that approximately half of these jobs are based in Kildare, with the balance of staff distributed across branch offices in Dublin and the UK.

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