David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the unemployment level in Cobh, Mitchelstown and Youghal respectively; his further views on job losses and projected job losses in these towns; the action he intends to take to address these job losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6328/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The live register figures for Cobh show 436 in January 2005, as against 452 in January 2004, a decrease of 3.5%. Figures for Mitchelstown are included with Fermoy and these show 865 on the live register in January 2005, as against 890 in January 2004 a decrease of 2.8%. In Youghal, there were 690 on the live register in January 2005, as against 756 in January 2004, a decrease of 8.7%. Unemployment has dropped in all these areas in January 2005, compared to January 2004. Overall, for Cork city and county, there were 16,134 on the live register in January 2005, and 17,474 in January 2004, a decrease of 7.7%.

The most recent quarterly household survey published by the Central Statistics Office in December, 2004, showed that the unemployment rate for the country as a whole was 4.7% while, for the south west, it was below the national average at 4.5%. Job losses and job gains have always been, and will continue to be, part of the economic landscape, but our overall unemployment rate is among the lowest in Europe. Initially, in the case of job losses, the full services of FÁS, particularly in regard to re-training and up-skilling, are made available to any workers who wish to avail of those services.

Direct employment in IDA Ireland supported companies in Cork city and county continues to grow. The sectors contributing to this growth are information and communications technologies, medical technologies and international services. Over the last four years, IDA Ireland has approved new projects for the Cork area, which will create up to 5,000 jobs at full production. Last year, Enterprise Ireland approved support of over €9 million and paid over €5.6 million to its client companies in Cork city and county. Enterprise Ireland also approved support of over €2.7 million for third level-industry innovation partnership in Cork, covering 45 projects, during 2004. These partnerships encourage the adoption of new technologies by industry.

There are a number of other developments taking place in Cork, which will contribute to providing significant employment opportunities for the area. These include an Aer Rianta investment at Cork Airport and the construction of the Kinsale roundabout flyover. As regards Mitchelstown in particular, a socio-economic strategy is currently being drawn up. The strategy is expected to be completed by the end of March 2005, and this will help to inform future actions and policies for the area.