Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to examine precisely what has been happening in recent times. It suggests that the initiatives that are under way are having an impact. There has been a substantial increase in job creation in the region since the commencement of the national Action Plan for Jobs in 2012, with an additional 33,600 in employment in the second quarter of 2017. As the Deputy knows, the unemployment rate in Wexford has decreased from 16,170 in 2011 to 11,478 in 2016, a reduction of almost 5,000 people.

Clearly, more work remains to be done. I take the Deputy's point on the comparison with the average rate of unemployment. A lot of work is going on. There is a strong base of agency supported jobs in the county. Currently, 2,630 people are employed in IDA Ireland supported companies, 4,816 in Enterprise Ireland client companies and 1,192 in local enterprise office supported businesses. Considerably more than 8,000 people are in agency supported employment in County Wexford.

Many things are moving in the right direction but I take the Deputy's point, he wants to see an acceleration of those actions. I refer to the continuing work by indigenous companies, which have a strong presence in County Wexford. Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in the county employed almost 5,000 people. It also supports two community enterprise centres. These serve as important enterprise hubs. Local enterprise continues to perform well. The local enterprise office in Wexford successfully secured funding for five projects under Enterprise Ireland's competitive fund. These projects will begin to create more jobs in the period ahead. Two other projects from within the county were also awarded funding under Enterprise Ireland’s community enterprise initiative scheme.

Looking ahead, I assure the Deputy that IDA Ireland is targeting an increase of investment in the south-east region of 30% to 40% by 2019. It is focusing on the region and will work with companies which come to Wexford.

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