Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Reilly for the opportunity to discuss the recently launched Action Plan for Jobs on a regional basis. Last week we launched the framework of that strategy. After I leave the Seanad, I will meet the implementation group for the strategy. I can assure Senator Reilly that I will play a leading role in rolling out the Border plan. It very much affects my constituency of Louth and east Meath and I look forward to working together with Senator Reilly and others towards the mutual objective of sustainable job creation on a balanced basis right across the country.

The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to support enterprise growth and job creation in every region. Since the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2012, employment nationally has increased by approximately 80,000. However, the economic recovery has progressed at a different pace across the regions. Unemployment across different regions remains above the national average, and this is the case for the Border region in general. This is why the Government is placing an increased emphasis on supporting economic recovery and jobs growth in the regions.

Vibrant and competitive regions are important, not only from an economic perspective but also from a societal point of view. Growing the economic base of regions supports social cohesion and provides opportunities, in particular, for young people to continue to live and work in their local communities. The 2015 Action Plan for Jobs includes a commitment to develop and publish a suite of regional enterprise strategies based on the strengths of each region, in consultation with key stakeholders. We will be having a series of meetings with stakeholders in the Border area over the next few weeks.

Last week, the Government announced details of the Action Plan for Jobs - Regional initiative which will seek to maximise the strengths and assets of each region to support enterprise growth and job creation. The objective is that six regional action plans, including one for the Border region, will be launched by July, with two remaining strategies in development at that stage. The purpose of the plans is to strengthen and develop regional collaboration by encouraging local authorities, regional bodies, higher education institutions, the private sector and communities to come forward with innovative ideas to boost job creation in their areas. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is currently in the process of finalising the regional action plan for the midlands. The plan has been developed in close consultation with local stakeholders in the area and this process will be replicated for all plans, including the regional action plan for the Border region. In that context, local entrepreneurs and business people will have an opportunity to provide inputs to the regional action plan for the Border region. The plan will include measures that can be taken to help the Border region to realise its economic potential. These will include a series of actions for delivery by the enterprise development agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, and the local enterprise offices, together with the local authorities, other public sector bodies and the private sector to support enterprise growth and job creation in the region. We expect to identify measures in a number of sectors that are common to all regions, such as tourism, the food sector and skills, but we will also be working closely with the regions to identify measures specific to those particular regions aimed at boosting job creation. That is how that process will work.

I am pleased to note that year on year, from 2014 to 2015, there was a 12.77% decrease in the live register in Cavan and a 13.86% decrease in Monaghan. There is considerable work being done by the agencies in that part of the country. We all welcomed the announcement by Combilift in Monaghan only a couple of weeks ago of 200 new jobs in a spectacular indigenous Irish company that is well known throughout the world.

The way to address the regional disparities to which Senator Reilly refers is by carrying out a robust analysis, working with local stakeholders and identifying strengths in the area. I have said it before, and I will say it again, there is little point in having the Twenty-six Counties competing for the same type of foreign direct investment. We want to identify the strengths in the area and target investment, and target the focus of the State agencies on that basis.

Senator Reilly asked what Enterprise Ireland would do with regard to the competitive funds. Over the next few weeks, Enterprise Ireland will announce the framework for those funds. It is designed to identify what particular areas are good at and where local interests can align to work with Enterprise Ireland to develop facilities and ideas for job creation in those areas. The first of the calls will focus on community-driven enterprise initiatives and there will be a role for community interests, local chambers of commerce and local businesses in that. The second call will focus on new ideas emerging from the local enterprise offices. A third broader competitive regional call will support significant projects or initiatives to improve enterprise capability in the regions.

I am confident that the Border area, including the Cavan-Monaghan area, which Senator Reilly represents, will be well placed to attract considerable funding from Enterprise Ireland. Much of that, in terms of competitive calls, will turn on the ability of the local community to come together, to pool its resources with local authorities, third-level and further education institutes and other bodies to identify the priorities for that area so that it can work with Enterprise Ireland on a collaborative basis to attract as much funding as possible to develop as many sustainable jobs as it is possible to do in that particular area.