Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Mulherin for raising the issue, which I have addressed in respect of other areas of the country where Deputies and Senators have similar concerns to those of the Senator. The regional action plan for jobs initiative has been a central pillar of the Government’s ability to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020, with 135,000 of these jobs to be located outside of Dublin. There is an overall goal to have a further 10% to 15% at work in each region by 2020 and to ensure the unemployment rate of each region is within 1 percentage point of the State average. Yesterday we got the really good news from the Central Statistics Office that for the first time in ten years the unemployment rate came down to 5.9%. That is a very important indicator of what is happening regarding job creation around the country.

The west regional action plan, covering Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, was launched in November 2015. It aims to increase employment in the region by 10% to 15% over the period to 2020, resulting in the delivery of 25,000 jobs. Implementation of the plan is overseen and monitored by a regional implementation committee made up of representatives from the public and private sector.

At the end of 2017 the west had an unemployment rate of 5.9%. It is important to point out that the number of people in employment in the west region increased by 15,500 between the first quarter of 2015, the baseline year, and the second quarter of 2017, representing good progress towards the target of 25,000 by 2020. Over the year to the second quarter of 2017, an additional 3,800 took up employment in the west region.

I am pleased to say that the overall employment trends in foreign direct investment for County Mayo are positive. In County Mayo there are 16 IDA Ireland-supported companies employing 4,462 in total. In the past two years there have been two notable successes. Coca-Cola announced an investment of €26 million in its Ballina operations and Fort Wayne Metals announced a €10 million expansion of its production operations in Castlebar.

County Mayo has experienced a 26% increase in FDI employment from 2012 to 2017. Job numbers in IDA Ireland client companies there have grown from 3,537 in 2012 to 4,462 at the end of last year. IDA Ireland’s client base in the county has performed well, retaining a healthy presence in the west region despite a challenging global economic operating environment over recent years. Over the past year alone, the number of IDA Ireland-supported jobs in Mayo increased by 5%, and the agency continues to work hard to create further employment opportunities in the county and to increase the number of multinational companies located there.

The Senator needs to understand that IDA Ireland is competing against many other countries, particularly the UK. That is why IDA Ireland needs to think regionally rather than focusing on certain towns. It is competing against cities such as Manchester and Birmingham with populations of about 3 million.There is fierce competition in the context of jobs. While IDA Ireland can indicate where it would like the relevant company to locate, and the Senator talked about her area in this regard, ultimately, it is a matter for that company to decide where to locate.

In 2017, the number of Enterprise Ireland jobs increased by 7% in the west. Indigenous jobs are very important. On 16 April this year the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I met the chairs of the regional action plan for jobs committees, including representatives from the west region, and other regional stakeholders to start a process to refresh and refocus all regional plans to ensure their relevance and impact out to 2020. It was a very important gathering in Farmleigh, where we met all the relevant stakeholders, including those from the north west, to outline the importance of what was needed in their regions. We can take that on board when preparing the regional action plan for jobs. On the same date, a further €30 million was announced in funding under the second call of the regional enterprise development fund, REDF, which is aimed at driving enterprise development and job creation in each region. Under the first call, the REDF has already supported 21 collaborative and innovative initiatives that can have a significant impact on enterprise development in the regions and nationally.

We must acknowledge the good work done by the local enterprise offices, LEOs. The LEO in Mayo works closely with businesses and organisations, such as Moy Valley Resources in Ballina, Ballina Chamber of Commerce and Destination North Mayo, to promote economic development and enterprise creation. Specific targeting of LEO supports is achieved through the use of the LEO outreach clinics which regularly occur. A significant number of training programmes and business advice clinics have taken place in Ballina over the past three years. Some 21 projects in food manufacturing and processing, other manufacturing, medical devices manufacture, engineering, business services, craft and furniture and light consumer goods manufacture have been supported in north and east Mayo, totalling €351,858 over the same period. Export assistance totalling €21,537 was also provided over the period in question. Since July of last year, the Leader local action group in Mayo has approved 50 projects for Leader funding of almost €1.8 million. Over half of these projects are aimed at rural economic development, enterprise development and job creation, which is one of the three programme themes under which Leader funding is provided.

I know Senator Mulherin works extremely hard for her constituents in Mayo, particularly in the north of the county from where she hails. I assure her my Department will work together with the agencies - Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the LEOs - to ensure delivery of the employment targets for the county under the regional action plan for jobs up to 2020. We are working hard to ensure this happens, which is why we have had a lot of consultation with the various agencies and local stakeholders. I thank the Senator for raising this issue, which I have dealt with on many occasions in both Dáil and Seanad.