Dáil debates

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

Other Questions

Industrial Development.

1:00 pm

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 8: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to support enterprise development in the midland and western regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11856/08]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The indigenous enterprise development agencies under my remit, Enterprise Ireland and the county enterprise boards, have a clear and unequivocal mandate to develop enterprise in all regions. As in the other regions, their activity in the midlands and western regions has been successful to date.

Enterprise Ireland has a wide range of programmes to address the multidisciplinary demands of entrepreneurship and the diversity of business types. For example, it supports companies to achieve productivity gains, internationalisation, export growth and achievement of scale. It assists with research and development, management skills acquisition, market information and seed and venture capital. It also address micro business with support for incubation space in communities. Enterprise Ireland works with almost 490 client companies in the west region which employ 11,693 people. In 2007, €14.8 million was approved by Enterprise Ireland for clients in the west region. In the midlands, Enterprise Ireland works with over 300 client companies which employ more than 9,900 people. In 2007 approvals for midlands clients was over €7.5 million.

The role of the county and city enterprise boards in the midland and western region is to provide a source of support for micro-enterprise in the start-up and expansion phases, to promote and develop indigenous micro-enterprise potential and to stimulate economic activity and entrepreneurship at local level. The specific types of formal CEB assistance available to micro-enterprise is broken down between financial assistance such as grants for feasibility studies, employment grants and capital grants and non-financial assistance such as programmes covering business management, mentoring, e-commerce, enterprise education and women in business networks.

During 2007 the midland region CEBs, composed of Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly paid out over €1.48 million in grant assistance to 109 clients. This intervention has assisted in the creation of 236 jobs in the region. The CEBs in the western region, comprising Galway, Mayo and Roscommon have paid out over €1.11 million in grant assistance to 104 clients, which in turn, has enabled the creation of 328 jobs in the area.

During 2008 the CEBs in the midlands and western region will continue to support enterprise development through the provision of both direct financial assistance, in the form of capital, feasibility and employment grants, and through indirect or soft support assistance such as management development capability support and the development and delivery of activities to highlight and promote enterprise.

IDA Ireland is also supporting enterprise development in the region through its ongoing strategy of growing and embedding foreign direct investment activity. The agency is encouraging its client companies to add strategic functions to its Irish operations in areas such as research and development and marketing. There are opportunities here for indigenous companies in the areas of sub-supply and service provision.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Apart from the creation of new jobs and development of new enterprises it is important to maintain existing jobs. There is a fear in the midlands and in the north of County Meath that many factories are beginning to lose two or three jobs. Where there were 15 or 20 employees in a company a small percentage, especially in the area of exports, are beginning to lose jobs. In sustaining jobs I ask that the agencies link in with those factors to prevent the loss of employment.

At a recent meeting with FÁS, I was told of a skilled workforce in a certain factory which has no particular qualification or certification but has been doing the same job for 20 or 30 years. It is trying to find a way to give them a certificate or to acknowledge their skills. I ask the Minister to encourage and fast-track that initiative if at all possible so that if certain jobs are lost the workforce leave with a certifiable skill that can help them get another job in the future and can also be used to help attract new industry when one sees a list of people with certain skills.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the view on experiential learning. The agenda of translating a person's experience in the workplace into a qualification is with the national qualifications framework, FETAC and HETAC, with a view to developing a template by which one can enable somebody who wanted to start a particular programme to get credit for their experience in industry or in services. That is an issue about which I am enthusiastic since I was Minister for Education and Science many years ago. I was involved in setting up the national qualifications framework and in putting the legislation through. At that time I envisaged that the whole area of experiential learning would be accommodated. I am concerned at the pace at which it is progressing. There are complexities attached to it but it is important. Our emphasis on skills development is on the workers in existing enterprises. The 500,000 people we have identified in the national skills challenge, to which Deputy Penrose alluded earlier, are all workers. We have to incentivise people to go on programmes to upskill themselves. The value of their experiences is useful in this context.

The dairy investment fund had a good impact on the midlands. Under the dairy investment fund which is managed by Enterprise Ireland and announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Mary Coughlan with European funding, Glenisk Limited in the midlands was awarded €3.1 million and €8 million for an organic yoghurt and milk project. If one goes into the self-service restaurant one will see its products proudly displayed. I recommend them to all concerned. Projects such as this did very well out of the dairy investment fund.

I was in the US last week and it was fantastic to hear what a company such as Boston Scientific had to say about the workforce in Galway and the degree to which the technology developed there impacted on its global performance. There is a great deal of strong technology in industry in the west and in the midlands, for example, in Athlone, in pharmaceuticals and life sciences. In respect of SISCO's recent announcement in Galway there are 200 highly qualified research and development people. There are a lot of positives there.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I thank the Minister. I want to advocate Kellys organic production of similar products in Ladestown, Mullingar.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will have to head back to Mitchelstown.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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We should recognise somebody who started off small, as did Gerry Kelly and his wife, Mary. That is very important because they provide employment in that area and utilise a natural resource. We should encourage jobs in that particular area. I hope the Minister will not be found wanting.

In the Athlone, Tullamore and Mullingar, ATM, region, Mullingar is the principal town, irrespective of future events.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Senator Cassidy is in the US.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I do not know what he is doing there. Those are the important towns. I appreciate we are marketing them as a triangle and I advocate that is the way to proceed. Will the Minister give a solemn commitment that he, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA will leave no stone unturned to ensure that a positive development takes place in Mullingar in a 70 acre industrial park which is well developed and geographically centred? While we have good access what is important for the people the Minister spoke with in the US is that an airport is located near at hand. I know that one has been mentioned for Horseleap which is on the Longford-Offaly border. I hope that happens. One of the disappointments is that the former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, did not develop Abbeyshrule, on the Westmeath-Longford border. Does the Minister agree that is critical in the context of developing the ATM region?

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I certainly do. We were digging the sod in that business park which is a significant one in Mullingar.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Yes.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is no reason to develop it unless we fill it. I will use the comparison I used earlier with Carlow and other areas. That the facility is being put in place is a reflection of the IDA's commitment to market it. It is the triangular marketing of the region that says to a multinational that if one locates in Mullingar one has access to the population base in the region of approximately 400,000 people.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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For technology graduates and so on.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Exactly. Enterprise Ireland recently announced a €50 million development for the institutes of technology — equipment grants and grants for the incubation centres — to facilitate business development and incubation to provide added capacity to help companies to start up. The institutes are located regionally. The idea behind that is to give a stronger regional focus to enterprise development among Irish-owned companies. I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy's perspective on this issue.