Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Calleary for highlighting this issue. Ballaghaderreen has a population of 3,000 people. A loss of 38 jobs is significant in such a region. They are all local people as well. However, I must put on record the work that has been done through the Action Plan for Jobs. The first progress report was completed in December. The statistics are there to prove that the number of people on the live register in Roscommon fell by 1,300 over the past four years, which is a decline of 30%, so it is not all doom and gloom in respect of job creation. My Department and I are very focused on the regions. The new Action Plan for Jobs, which we launched last February, has said that 200,000 jobs will be created by 2020, of which 135,000 will be in the regions. We have exceeded our expectations. In the first Action Plan for Jobs, we said we would create 100,000 jobs. We created 190,000 jobs. I assure the Deputy that the agencies under the aegis my Department and the Government are committed to Roscommon.

We had an initial allocation of €5 million in competitive funds for 48 local and regional initiatives. We had two calls under the competitive fund and the community enterprise initiative. Eleven projects in the west were successful in securing funding. Five of those involve partnerships with organisations in Roscommon and aim to benefit and support local business and entrepreneurs. The unemployment rate in the west is 7.9%, which is a bit above the rest of the country, but efforts are being made by agencies.

I must again point out the work being done by the LEOs. Foreign direct investment, FDI, will not go into every area. It tends to go into clusters. It is important to encourage entrepreneurship and we are doing this. Despite the challenges, the LEOs succeeded in creating more than 3,500 jobs last year. When we look at the LEO figures in Roscommon, we can see the figure in 2015 was 145, which was double the 2014 figure. The figure fell back slightly in 2016 but I am anxious that we continue to ensure Roscommon is well served. Enterprise Ireland is doing that and is working in collaboration with the LEOs as well. A total of 133 jobs were created in Roscommon last year, while in 2014, 311 jobs were created.

With the agencies and the support of the Government, I am confident we will secure alternative employment for Ballaghaderreen. There are 3,000 people living in Ballaghaderreen, so losing 38 jobs means a lot, particularly for young families that may have mortgages, etc. We are very conscious of that. Last year, we made €150 million available to IDA Ireland to support a regional property programme to drive jobs in the multinational sector in rural areas. The resources are there. We got resources in last year's budget. Rural Ireland is very important to us and will continue to be important to my Department. I am very conscious of the concern raised by all three Deputies and will visit Roscommon in the near future to see at first hand what is happening with the agencies there.

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