Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. It is a continuing challenge to get regional spread. We are in a major transition. I was just looking at the figures for the west published by the Central Statistics Office from the census and there was a 60% reduction between 2006 and 2011 in the number of people employed in construction, amounting to a loss of 15,000 jobs. That is evidence of the significant downward suck that happened across the country. The sector had great regional spread. The challenge is to build new sectors that can get the same regional spread. It is challenging, especially when one looks at the IDA, which tends to be focused on highly mobile sectors. The investments we are chasing tend to be focused on sectors with very deep labour pool needs connected to education and hubs. That has been a real challenge to try to get the spread.

We have done interesting things. For example, the IDA has focused more on emerging companies and trying to get companies to make their first internationalisation into Ireland rather than trying to attract the big iconic names. That has been successful and has resulted in somewhat better regional spread. Connect Ireland is another initiative we took which seeks to use the contacts of people within the regions to act as a magnet. We have been taking a number of initiatives. This year is better in terms of regional spread than last year but it is still well short of the 50% target set for the IDA.

If one takes the west as a whole, in the three years from 2008 to 2010, the IDA lost 1,600 jobs while in 2011 to 2013 it added 3,500. That is a big turnaround. Enterprise Ireland similarly lost 2,000 jobs in the first period and added 500 in the second three-year period. We are getting traction in some sectors in particular. Food has been doing exceptionally well and has a very good regional spread. If one looks at the QNHS figures to which Senator Ó Clochartaigh referred one will see there has been solid growth in most regions and it has been spread through all the sectors. Some of it is on-farm and more is in the food sector. There is growth in the food sector and there is very strong growth in the tourism sector which again has given good regional spread.

The question on how we achieve a better regional spread is not just one for the IDA and Enterprise Ireland – the industrial agencies – it is also for those other sectors that are often major areas of competitive strength. We are seeking to develop a regional enterprise framework now that we have the local enterprise offices in place. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland have regional offices and it is timely to create a regional enterprise framework through which we can engage with stakeholders in whichever region to see how we can maximise effort. It will not all fall within our remit but it will play a part. Much of what we seek to do is aimed at small start-ups such as are funded by Microfinance Ireland and local enterprise offices. Those are initiatives through which we seek to give life to both rural and urban areas. This year one area of focus is to incentivise people to trade online in order to get customers, as that could be a lifeline for more remote areas where one has good skills or product capability.

There have been successes like the announcement last week by Green Isle Foods in Longford, which is very much rooted in the rural economy. We will seek to continue to build on those strengths.

Our targets are sectoral, in the sense of seeking to develop different sectors of the economy, and the regional spread comes with that. We have regional offices, each of which is charged with developing and maximising the impact it can make on companies. This year, as Members know, as part of our focus on manufacturing, we are asking our agencies to focus on 200 companies which have the capacity to step up. Every regional office will be looking at companies in its area to see if they have the capacity to step up, enter new markets and build their capabilities. We are seeking to deliver a regional spread through a number of different initiatives. However, I will not say that I am expecting "X" number of jobs from this or that county. It is not really realistic to work that way. That said, if we can get a regional framework in place, we can monitor the progress and look at the opportunities in collaboration with other players in the region. I hope to develop a better framework to address the issues raised by the Senator.