Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As a result of the revised regional groupings, all of County Tipperary is now included in the mid-western region for CSO data collection purposes. Within this region, unemployment has fallen from a peak of 16.6% in 2012 to 5.8% at the end of July 2018. Numbers in employment in the region have increased from 153,700 to 214,200 over the same period. While data from the labour force survey are not available on a county-by-county level, trends in the live register can give an indication of underlying trends in local unemployment. I am pleased that they are positive for Tipperary. Overall, the live register in Tipperary has fallen by 46% in the five years to August 2018, which is close to the reduction of 48% nationally. If the Deputy is under the impression his area is lagging behind the rest of the country, I am pleased to tell him it is not. In the year to August 2018, the live register in Tipperary had fallen by 1,270 people, or 12%, again, closely in line with national trends. In Tipperary town, the live register has fallen from 1,840 in 2012 to 962 currently, that is, by almost half.

The Government's primary strategy to tackle unemployment is twofold. First, the Action Plan for Jobs, which was originally led by the former Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and is now led by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, sets out to create an environment in which businesses can succeed and create jobs. That success is evident and I wish continued success to all of those people. This policy now includes a specific regional action plan relating to the former south-east region, covering south Tipperary. The plan has resulted in more than 21,000 jobs being created in the region in the past three years. Successful implementation of the plan is targeted at the creation of 25,000 additional jobs in the region by 2020. The plan aims to achieve this through building on key sectors of potential for the region like technology, biopharma and tourism in the beautiful county of Tipperary.

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