Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will address immediately the erosion of Ennis as an industrial base with the recent announcement that a company (details supplied) will close with the loss of 131 jobs; if a new industrial investment programme for Ennis in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Shannon Development will be developed as a matter of urgency to address the lack of investment in the town over the past 15 years to prevent Ennis from becoming a dormitory town; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12265/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I was disappointed to hear of the recent decision by the company in question to cease production at its Ennis-based manufacturing facility. The company employs 44 permanent and 87 temporary staff in its manufacturing operation and I understand the positions will be phased out over a 12 to 18 month period. The European sales and marketing team of 15 staff, which is also based in Ennis, is not affected by the decision. The job losses are the result of the company's decision to consolidate production at its facilities in the United States of America where it already has surplus capacity.

This day last week, a meeting of the Industry Ennis group, which was formed in 2000, took place to discuss employment in Ennis. The group's primary function is to support and, where possible, augment the services of the development agencies which operate in the area, including IDA Ireland, Shannon Development and the Clare County Enterprise Board. The outcome of the meeting was a decision by the group to develop a strategy to address employment in Ennis. The strategy will build on the group's work with State agencies to continue to promote Ennis through initiatives such as the Clare consul programme, which targets successful business people with Clare connections, and foreign direct investment itineraries.

Industry Ennis has helped 20 companies to create 358 jobs, of which 280 are established, with the remainder to be filled in the coming months. The live register shows a decrease in Ennis of 130 people in the year-on-year position at March 2005. The reduction reflects the success to date of various initiatives for the area. Last year, Ennis benefited from investment decisions by Organic Lens, which decided to add to its existing operation, and Monster Cable, which announced a new project for the town. Organic Lens will implement a €6.5 million programme of investment to develop its manufacturing operation which will create 100 jobs while Monster Cable will establish a shared-services centre which will create 50 jobs.

Shannon Development has recently completed the construction of phase 1 of the information age park in Ennis, which is its fifth knowledge-network location in the mid-west. The park constitutes an overall investment of €12.5 million in land, infrastructure and buildings and will provide 46,000 square feet of world-class incubation, expansion and own-door office accommodation in an urban park environment on the outskirts of the town. The investment marks the first phase of a significant development for Ennis and, as part of it, Shannon Development will relocate its regional office for Clare to the park. It is anticipated that over €100 million will be invested in the park by the public and private sectors over the next 15 years.

I am satisfied that the combined efforts of the development agencies together with the work of Industry Ennis will be sufficient to address the needs of the town. I look forward to examining the forthcoming strategy for the area.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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While the Minister provided statistics on overall employment, there have been over 570 job losses in Ennis in the past six years. As the Minister will know, Ennis is now the tenth largest town in Ireland with a population of 24,000, which will grow to 35,000 in 15 years. If people want to live there, they must want to work there also. While it is a fine town and the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, will open next week the Organic Lens extension which will provide extra jobs, Ennis has not attracted the level of investment appropriate to a hub town. There are continuing job losses and seven companies have closed in the past six years. What will the Minister do about it? Did he come up with any plan during his recent visits to China and Australia?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has correctly identified that Ennis is a growth town, which it would not be if it were not a vibrant and attractive location.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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It is becoming a residential town.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It continues to grow as a genuine location for investment. Considerable restructuring is ongoing in the economy in the profiles of jobs and the sectors in which employment is growing and declining. The services sector is an obvious one in which there has been continued growth in employment. While there have been job losses in certain traditional areas, there have been job increases across the board in other sectors. Many additional jobs have been created which do not warrant a major announcement such as five in one business and ten in another. Jobs are also created through the more substantial projects announced, for example, by Monster Cable and Organic Lens.

A town like Ennis cannot be considered in isolation. The live register shows a decrease which indicates that there is less unemployment in the town than there was this time last year. The town must be viewed in a regional context and in terms of the spatial plan through which IDA Ireland is marketing the region for investment and Ennis as a hub town, and will continue to do so. Through the work of Shannon Development, there will be a continuing focus on growing indigenous businesses in the Shannon area, including Ennis. When I was in China recently, I worked with Shannon Development, which organised a seminar to make a presentation to a number of interested parties of information on the company and the way in which it organises and supports indigenous enterprise in the mid-west.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Will the Minister undertake in his Department an investment programme which specifically targets Ennis? It is his responsibility to promote enterprise, trade and employment. The manufacturing industry in the town continues to be eroded. While I acknowledge that the information age park which was opened last month is a fine facility, we need jobs for it which we are not getting. The Minister mentioned Industry Ennis, which is starved of the funding it needs to source and secure employment. While I acknowledge the establishment of Westpark Data Centre in Shannon for the database industry, which the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, launched last week, it will benefit the whole mid-west region, whereas I am calling for action on Ennis specifically. While there are many small to medium enterprises in Ennis, job losses occur among them also which we do not hear about. As the Minister has praised Ennis today, will he consider a specific investment programme for the town?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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A considerable programme of investment in Ennis has been implemented across a range of Departments.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Where are the jobs?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Investment in fixed infrastructure leads ultimately to the attraction of jobs to an area and economic growth. The Deputy mentioned the information age park, which is a very significant investment for Ennis which, the Deputy will agree, will constitute a significant factor in the attraction of overseas and indigenous investment to the town. The Government's investment strategy includes the capital projects of various Departments on roads, schools and industrial parks. My Department works through development agencies such as IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, county enterprise boards, of which Clare has a very fine one, and, in the mid-west, Shannon Development. They are the vehicles through which we endeavour to attract and facilitate investment in Ennis and similar locations.

Ireland's employment statistics are the best in Europe. Our unemployment rates are the lowest at 4%. There is an incompatibility between the statistical reality of employment and some of the commentary I hear from various locations across the country.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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There is no regional balance.