Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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3. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of new jobs created in companies supported by IDA Ireland; the number of jobs lost in agency-supported companies; the number of site visits organised by the agency in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 in Tipperary north, Tipperary south and County Tipperary as a whole; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6180/15]

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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The Government has abandoned job creation in County Tipperary over the last four years. Yesterday, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, announced a regional strategy which excluded the county and further disadvantaged its towns. What specific steps does the Minister intend to take to create jobs in County Tipperary? I ask him to urgently and immediately amend the plan he announced yesterday to ensure that it includes County Tipperary and its towns.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that every county, including Tipperary, is included in our regional strategy. No one is excluded. The annual employment survey shows that 68 jobs were created and 77 were lost among IDA client companies in Tipperary in 2012. In 2013, 202 jobs were created while 521 were lost, and in 2014, 64 jobs were created while 62 were lost. In the same three-year period, there were a total of 12 site visits to County Tipperary: five in 2012, four in 2013 and three in 2014. For reasons of client confidentiality and commercial sensitivity, including the potential impact on any future property transactions that might arise from a possible investment, it is prudent to provide details of such visits on a county-by-county basis only, although the Deputy sought details for different parts of the county. While the IDA seeks to influence the choice of location, decisions on where to visit and where to locate are taken in all cases by the investor.

Since the economic crash, enterprises have been undergoing a difficult transition. Jobs in many sectors have proved unsustainable. For example, the number of people employed in construction in Tipperary fell by 4,800 during the crash. Progress is now being made, however. Employment in companies supported by both IDA and Enterprise Ireland grew in Tipperary in 2014 for the first time since the crash. In the last four years, unemployment levels have fallen in Tipperary by 2,754, which is a decrease of 16%. More needs to be done to build on this trend. The Action Plan for Jobs has been designed to introduce measures right across the Government to support job growth and reduce unemployment. We are determined to ensure that every region will benefit from the recovery.

Yesterday, I announced with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste the details of a comprehensive new strategy to support enterprise growth and job creation at regional level. The regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative seeks to build on the success of the annual Action Plan for Jobs at national level by developing locally driven plans that can build on the strengths and opportunities identified in each region. The strategy will provide up to €250 million over five years in additional funding to support regional enterprise development. This includes the roll-out of a five-year €150 million property investment programme by the IDA to attract foreign direct investment into the regions. This programme will build on the recent investment by the IDA in a number of advance manufacturing facilities in regional locations. A further sum of up to €100 million will be available to Enterprise Ireland to support enterprises in the regions in starting up, growing and exporting, thereby creating more jobs in regional locations.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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Unemployment figures in County Tipperary are well in excess of 14,000, which is significantly above the national average. Towns like Carrick-on-Suir and Nenagh, which did not benefit from the Celtic tiger, now find themselves with unemployment levels that are more than double the national average.

In respect of job creation by IDA companies in 2014, a mere 64 jobs were created in the county, 48 in south Tipperary and 16 in north Tipperary. In 2014, 78% of all IDA jobs were created in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway while 64 out of 15,000 jobs were created in County Tipperary. The county has been abandoned and forgotten about by the Government. Yesterday's announcement further disadvantages the county. What specific steps will the Minister take to ensure that job creation is available for the towns of Tipperary?

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I point out to the Deputy that the IDA employment is about 5% of total employment in Tipperary. A total of 95% of enterprise and employment is outside that sector. The Deputy's sole focus on foreign investment undersells the huge amount of enterprise in Tipperary and the south east. Employment levels in the south east have grown by 18,000 in the past two and a half years. There is a strong recovery there.

The Deputy quotes figures for the IDA. I could quote figures for Enterprise Ireland. A total of 85% of new jobs related to Enterprise Ireland are outside Dublin. We are seeing strong growth in our regions based on our own enterprises which is the future we need to develop. This regional enterprise strategy strengthens the backbone of property options available in every region and also sets out a challenge and opportunity for our regions, including Tipperary, to identify areas of opportunity and to plan actions that will implement and realise those opportunities. I invite the Deputy to participate in that programme because it will respond to the needs of enterprise in his area, seek to get collaboration and provide new money to underpin such collaboration.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group)
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The Minister's announcement yesterday says nothing about towns in Tipperary. It talks about the investment over the coming years in building advance manufacturing and office facilities in Sligo, Tralee, Castlebar, Galway, Dundalk, Limerick, Athlone, Carlow and Waterford. There is no mention of any town in Tipperary or the building of advance factories or office facilities on any of the sites that are available throughout the county, in Tipperary town, Archerstown in Thurles, Lisboney in Nenagh, Benamore at Roscrea, Clonmel, Cashel or Carrick-on-Suir. It is quite obvious that there is no commitment to job creation for County Tipperary through IDA companies into the future. I want to see the plan the Minister announced yesterday amended to include County Tipperary specifically.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I think the Deputy is talking nonsense. One fifth of the money we presented yesterday is going to a number of advance facilities in the six regions outside the Dublin area. In each region, 80% of the revenue will be available for other solutions in which every county and region can participate. However, the Deputy insists on taking a very narrow view of where employment growth will come from. Yes, foreign investment has a role to play but the Deputy should talk to his own enterprises. Where are the opportunities in Tipperary? The food sector is having a fantastic period of growth. Many Irish companies are investing in the future because milk quotas are coming to an end. Glanbia has made investments which it expects will leverage 1,600 additional people at work providing milk and transporting and supporting that enterprise. There are huge opportunities that each region can build. The Deputy insists on taking a very narrow focus on where enterprise grows. Employment is growing in the south east and the mid-west and we need to build on that. People like the Deputy need to get behind those people with new ideas and see how they can be realised. That is what this is about. There is money out there for ideas to come forward from the regions which we will support on the basis of the best quality proposals. I invite the Deputy to participate in a real opportunity for our regions instead of just griping about what is going on.