Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senator Buttimer.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter and to outline Government policy. As a practising politician, I appreciate that behind the statistics are individuals and families who have had their hopes and aspirations dashed. They are often in difficulty with mortgage repayments. When people lose their jobs it has a devastating impact on the individual. With this is mind, as a Government we are trying to take specific measures to address these challenges and ensure job losses are minimised as much as possible. Our priority is to create an environment which would allow those who lose their jobs to return quickly to the labour market.

The enterprise development agencies, with FÁS, are actively engaged in facilitating job opportunities in Cork. IDA Ireland is concentrating its efforts in Cork city and Mallow. It is also targeting the towns of Fermoy, Clonakilty and Youghal. The attractions of the region include a young skilled population, the presence of a university and institute of technology and the availability of first-class business parks, good infrastructure and an international airport.

The emergence of an economic corridor along the N25 with the initial development of Little Island followed by new developments at Eastgate, Fota Business Park, Carrigtwohill and Midleton have proved opportune. IDA Ireland has found that the availability of quality property solutions combined with excellent infrastructure and the proximity of Little Island to the city, airport and residential areas has made the area an attractive location for IDA Ireland clients.

Cork has benefited greatly from a number of important investment announcements recently, which demonstrates the attractiveness of the county as a location for investment, by existing companies already located there as well as new overseas client companies choosing Cork as their location of choice.

At present, Cork city and county have 134 IDA Ireland supported enterprises. Over the past ten years, direct employment in IDA Ireland supported companies has increased from 13,838 in 1998 to more than 20,110 in 2007. The sectors contributing to this growth are ICT, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and globally traded business.

In the past three years, IDA Ireland has approved projects of new companies establishing in the Cork area with a job potential of more than 3,100 people at full operation. At the beginning of this month, Marriott International Incorporated, one of the world's largest hoteliers, announced that it is to establish its second operation in Cork, creating 220 new high quality jobs over five years. In March 2008, DePuy Johnson & Johnson announced that it is to carry out next generation product and process development at its Ringaskiddy facility, with the establishment of an innovation centre. In February of this year, Citco Fund Services Limited, which is based in Dublin, announced the expansion of its Cork hedge fund administration operation, which will create an additional 150 jobs at its Blackrock site.

In addition to attracting new foreign direct investment, IDA Ireland continues to work closely with its existing clients in Cork to encourage them to expand their operations. The success of this is demonstrated by the recent expansion of several companies in the county, including Trend Micro, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanmina-SCI, the research and development section of EMC, Siemens, Arris and Alcon.

New indigenous companies have also been established and have created new employment in the county. In July of this year funding of €20 million was announced for the establishment of a national functional foods research centre for a unique partnership between four of Ireland's leading dairy companies, namely, Glanbia Nutritionals, Dairygold Food Ingredients, Carberry and Kerry Ingredients Ireland. It is expected that 50 people will be trained and employed by the companies in research over the next five years. Research and development in indigenous industries is important, particularly in the area of food research.

In September 2007, Eirebloc Limited announced it would invest €16 million over a three year period in establishing a manufacturing facility in Macroom, County Cork, with the creation of 73 high value jobs over the next two years. In January 2007, Global Shares Public Limited opened its new headquarters in Clonakilty, County Cork, and it is projected that it will employ 32 people by the end of 2008.

A significant initiative was developed for north Cork in 2007 with the launch of the €500 million development plan for the Irish Sugar site in Mallow. The plan includes enterprise space of 800,000 sq. ft., a four star conference hotel, a golf course and recreational amenities and the creation of up to 1,000 jobs.

Envisaged in the Cork docklands development strategy is a new urban quarter with residential, employment and leisure opportunities in a high density urban setting. This regeneration of docklands is a priority for the city council. The massive regeneration programme will take about 15 years to complete and involves an employment target of 25,000 for the area. The budget includes a commitment in the context of tax relief for the Seveso sites. The Government is committed to progress the project. In the context of the economic backdrop we now face, there are additional challenges for those charged with progressing this and other projects, but I am certain development will take place in the docklands in the foreseeable future.

Employment services are available through FÁS offices in several locations in Cork city, as well as in Mallow and Bantry. These offices are further supported in service provision via fortnightly clinics in all the principal towns in the county. FÁS is also working closely with the Cork city local employment service to support the unemployed further, through training and other means, with a particular emphasis on those who are most distant from the labour market. There are approximately 2,898 people currently participating in FÁS training programmes in County Cork, with more than 2,000 participating in community employment projects. The other programmes in the region include the job initiative programme, local training initiatives, supported employment, specialist training providers and community training centres.

For those who have lost their jobs and for those in employment, upskilling is vital in the context of ensuring a competitive economy. Workers must be able to adapt their skills quickly to meet the challenges posed by a rapidly shifting global economic market. The participation of ever greater numbers of our population in lifelong learning is essential to ensuring our economy remains adaptable against the background of the types of economic challenges we and most other developed nations are facing. It was recently confirmed that the eurozone has slipped into recession, creating major challenges for us. As a small open economy, selling to the global market, we are very dependent on exports. We will survive by remaining competitive and by ensuring we have a flexible, highly educated and mobile workforce. These are the two vital ingredients in enhancing our competitiveness on global markets.

We must, however, be under no illusions. The international credit crisis and the downturn in the major economies of Europe and in the United States has affected us significantly. We now see that Japan is in difficulty, while China, until recently the powerhouse of the global economy, has announced an investment package to stimulate its economy. There is no doubt we are in a very challenging situation.

The Government's objective is to ensure those who fall into unemployment will have the opportunity to seek training in other areas through FÁS. Given the downturn in the construction industry, we are placing particular emphasis on ensuring apprentices have an opportunity to complete their training and attain their qualification. The worst case scenario is that apprentices who have spent time training to be craftspeople would find themselves unemployed, without a sponsor and unable to obtain their qualifications. We are working actively with FÁS to ensure they can avail of their next off-the-job training block release. In other words, if they cannot find a sponsor, they can return to FÁS and take their eight-week training module off-site. In addition, we are seeking to put in place measures whereby employers will receive assistance to take on apprentices and thus allow them to complete their training.

I assure the Senator that we are very conscious of the difficulties that exist. As a public representative, I recognise the impact the downturn is having on individuals. Even in the context of the difficult choices and challenges arising in the budget, the Government took strategic decisions to ensure we do not overburden businesses with increased costs and taxation. All the budgetary measures were necessary to ensure that we stabilise the public finances in the first instance. The objective now is to ensure we remain competitive and that we have a stable banking system. All these issues were taken into account and we are seeking to address them in a rapidly changing economic climate, both nationally and globally.