John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his welcome and I thank Senator Keaveney for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

While it is recognised that Donegal has suffered particular difficulties in the past due to the demise of traditional industries such as agriculture, fishing and textiles, there is clear evidence that the county is successfully engaged in a transition to the new economy. Live register figures at 8,340 and 8,370 for September 2006 and 2007, respectively, are lower then any year going back to 1993. The interdepartmental group report on Donegal, which my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Micheál Martin, launched last year, identified the various infrastructural developments required to support enterprise development in the county. The report noted, not just that much progress had been made, but also that there were financial provisions available to complete major infrastructural projects, especially new roads, to equip Donegal further as an attractive location for enterprise development.

Donegal is a key target location for IDA Ireland, with the county now competing for a different type of business from labour-intensive manufacturing, on which it relied successfully in the past. The overseas investor is now seeking locations for more advanced manufacturing or office-based solutions, to a great extent depending on high skill and doing high value work. This has required a significant change of strategy by IDA Ireland with a focus on a limited number of key locations nationally.

To encourage interest in Donegal, IDA Ireland has developed a new business park in Letterkenny with modern building solutions capable of competing with other locations nationally and internationally. IDA Ireland has been working with the third level sectors in the region, at Letterkenny Institute of Technology and in Northern Ireland, to offer the necessary courses aimed at its target areas of medical technologies, international financial services and high end engineering.

Over a number of years, progress has been made in securing new investments from PacifiCare, Pramerica, SITA and Abbott Diabetes with approximately 1,200 new jobs being added in the county by overseas firms in the past five years. These companies continue to recruit and are actively seeking new staff. Pramerica Systems is expanding its services centre in Letterkenny to create 70 new jobs in software development and testing operations, call centre and financial services with added capacity to recruit a further 80 personnel.

Abbott, one of the world's largest healthcare companies, is establishing a manufacturing facility for its diabetes care products in Donegal town with the creation of 155 high quality jobs at full production. Abbott has taken possession of its plant from Hospira and recruitment of key executives is underway along with the redevelopment of the site to meet the needs of its new occupant.

SITA will expand its software operation in Letterkenny, leading to the creation of 123 high quality software development jobs. Zeus Industrial Products has made a capital investment of more than €7 million, principally in state-of-the-art premises, production machinery and equipment. There are currently 71 permanent staff members employed in the firm and recruitment is ongoing.

With regard to the Enterprise Ireland input in County Donegal, during the years 2004-06 a total of 1,156 jobs were created in the agency's client companies, as against job losses of 980, leaving a net gain of 176 jobs. As the Senator mentioned, in recent times I have met with a company from Donegal in Dubai and we are supporting it in its efforts to gain a stronger foothold in that market. In that context, in terms of trade missions, I shall continue to focus on that area and support companies that come forward through Enterprise Ireland. The following are some specific Enterprise Ireland initiatives in County Donegal. The agency supports the CEIM Enterprise Platform Programme, in partnership with Letterkenny Institute of Technology, the Institutes of Technology in Sligo and Border Action in providing a training programme for entrepreneurs wishing to set up their own businesses. This programme is now going into its fourth year.

Enterprise Ireland, in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and the Special EU Programmes Body, commenced recruitment for Transform, a new cross-Border enterprise incubation programme, in May 2007. The programme was launched in September 2007 with a total of 43 participants, nine of whom are from the north west region. In 2006 Enterprise Ireland approved support of €650,000 for the provision of enterprise space in Carndonagh and Donegal town, as part of the community enterprise centre scheme. The agency has approved an amount of €2.54 million to extend the business development centre at Letterkenny Institute of Technology to cater for increasing demand. The building work is due to commence in 2008.

Enterprise Ireland's policy objectives for balanced regional development are reflected in the structure of its funding offer — whereby funding for existing company expansion and start-up businesses is biased towards regions. The maximum grant level is higher than in Dublin and the mid-east and a higher proportion of this funding is non-repayable. Donegal County Enterprise Board, funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, provides support to micro-enterprises 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. I will bring the Senator's other comments on the region to the attention of the Minister in due course.