John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Jobs; Enterprise and Innovation his strategy for job creation in County Waterford in view of the 575 job losses announced at the Talk Talk call centre in the city and almost 3,000 redundancies in the city in the past four years; if he will establish a dedicated task force to address Waterford's local economy; the estimated time frame for the establishment of such a task force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24431/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, I held a series of meetings with company management, workers, public representatives and business following the TalkTalk closure announcement. The message from local stakeholders was clear, in that County Waterford had not benefited from advances in the good times and had been badly affected in the more difficult times of late. On foot of that I instructed my agencies to put together an action plan for the south-east region to assess its strengths and weaknesses, identify sectoral opportunities, carry out an audit of activities and structures of the agencies and assess the scope for collaborative initiatives with local bodies.

It is clear that the region, despite all of its strengths, has not been as successful as we would all want. Job losses and unemployment levels are above average. Both short-term and long-term action is necessary.

The agencies have reported back and I am considering their responses with a view to introducing actions to address the specific employment problems affecting the south east. This approach is more appropriate than establishing a task force, given the timeframe of the site closure, the need for swift action and the fact that a large amount of analysis has been undertaken in the past.

I am determined to give Waterford the priority it correctly deserves. We need to take a hard look at this to see how we can better support enterprise in the south east and set out the actions we can take in the near and longer terms. As the various reports from the State agencies include commercially sensitive information, I will not be able to publish them as received. However, it is my intention to make known the additional activities and plans for enterprise support in the near future.

I acknowledge the support of Cabinet colleagues, in particular the Ministers for Social Protection and Education and Skills who responded immediately. FÁS and the Department of Social Protection's staff immediately engaged with TalkTalk workers. The Minister for Education and Skills indicated that work on the proposal for a technological university, which is to be explored as part of the programme for Government, is being accelerated. Clear criteria will be developed for that opportunity, which arose in discussions.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The Minister for Education and Skills has submitted an application under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, EGAF, to assist workers who lost their jobs.

While it is clear that Ireland is operating in a difficult economic environment, there are still investment opportunities in global markets and the IDA will continue to compete vigorously for projects for Ireland and the south east. In particular, the IDA has begun marketing the TalkTalk facility and the skill sets of the workers internationally.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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As the Minister is aware, the 575 jobs are gone. Of the workers and their families I spoke with last week, 12 people had found new employment.

I am not levelling direct criticism at the Minister. He is relatively new in the job and he went to County Waterford and did his best. This debate will be broadcast on WLR FM shortly. I do not hesitate to state that there is no criticism of the Minister, but there appears to be an abysmal failure on the part of the job creation agencies in Waterford. In particular, the IDA has been unable to deliver substantial or sustainable jobs to Waterford. The statistics laid before the House last year say it all. Of the 190 prospective investors that visited Ireland last year, only three were brought to Waterford by the IDA. This was in spite of the IDA's considerable budget. The south east is losing more jobs than it is creating. This situation must be examined.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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A question, please.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I have two questions. I welcome that there will be an action plan, but I would like to see a more detailed analysis of it. I hope it will involve business people, job agencies and trade unions. When will the action plan be ready to be laid before the House or the relevant people in Waterford?

My second question is on a broader issue. It appears that many companies, even though they are in profit, are leaving the State to make further profits. TalkTalk is an example. It made €160 million in profit. TEVA Pharmaceuticals made a profit of €600 million in the six months prior to the day it announced it would let 300 people go.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I will revert to the Deputy.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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We give companies finance to start off. Can anything be done to stop those that are making profits from leaving the State for no reason and making people redundant?

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his comments. I have found the support of public representatives - Deputies Coffey, Conway, Deasy and Halligan - council members and the general business community helpful in this process.

Deputy Halligan asked a number of questions. I am concerned about the statistics on the performance of IDA site visits. It would be appropriate to consider designating Waterford in the way Limerick was designated, as that brought advantages. I hope to introduce proposals in the near future. I will introduce actions to be taken rather than discussions to be held with different interests. I hope some of those actions will involve collaboration with other groups in the region that could assist.

The wider question on companies moving is a difficult one. Regarding the IDA's performance, there is a turnaround. Over time, lower skilled positions have tended to move out. For Ireland to remain strong, we must add new skills, research and development and product lines. In this way, we will remain relevant and competitive for companies. We cannot stop movement or outsourcing, as we live in a global economy. We must seek to position ourselves to be competitive. Overseas companies drive significant levels of dynamic development in Ireland. We need their investment and we must keep abreast of trends to take maximum advantage.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I welcome the Minister's action plan, but it must be seen. Time is not on Waterford's side. Given the substantial job losses in recent years, we need an action plan now. It can be a task force or an action plan - I am not tied to either - but it must show the thousands of unemployed people in Waterford that there is some hope for the future.

Another blow this past week saw the VEC relocated to County Wexford because of cronyism.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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That is a different issue.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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That move would have sat well with the previous Government. It was disgraceful.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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There must be balance in this debate. Yesterday, I visited Genzyme, which is investing €150 million in an incredible state-of-the-art plant. It is being regarded by the parent company taking it over as a jewel in its crown, to use the CEO's words. The mayor, Councillor Pat Hayes, was very clear that Waterford is very much open for business and wants to see opportunities developed. The actions I will take will be to try to build on the strengths of Waterford. It is easy to be negative about what is happening in Waterford but really good things are also happening there and we need to emphasise these also.