Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 300: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of IDA itineraries into the north west region, by county, over the past two years; the status of those potential jobs; and if he will make a statement on the regional spread of jobs within counties in the north west. [12215/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The following tabular statement shows the number of first time visits made to the north west region by IDA Ireland client companies in the years 2003 and 2004. On 31 March 2005, it was announced that 423 jobs were to be created in the north west region in IDA supported companies, 300 in Toucan, the consumer telecoms business of IDT Corporation, at its new customer service centre in Sligo and 123 software development jobs at SITA Inc. in Letterkenny. Discussions on further job creation in the area are ongoing with a number of other companies.

IDA Ireland, the agency charged with attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland, has indicated that 2,778 jobs were created by IDA client companies in the north west region in the last five years. IDA is working closely with its existing base of companies in the north west. One of the challenges facing companies in the north west is in the area of competitiveness, which has resulted in job losses in sectors such as textiles and clothing and low-end manufacturing. Where a company has plans to introduce new functions or new technologies or products, IDA will assist the company where possible to make new investments that lead to new jobs.

The challenge for Ireland in winning international investments is to compete with city regions elsewhere. I understand from IDA Ireland that very often the type of investment it is interested in attracting is one which cities such as Geneva, Amsterdam, Manchester, and Singapore are also candidate locations where an investor will have a pool of more than one million people from which to draw a range of skills. A town of 5,000 or 10,000 people cannot provide that type of labour pool potential. This is very much what the spatial strategy is about, namely, to build regions which have strong centres with good access, good talent and skills and strong business services which have a global orientation.

I am confident that the strategies and policies being pursued by IDA Ireland in Donegal, together with the ongoing commitment of Government to regional development will continue to bear fruit in terms of delivering the maximum possible level of additional jobs for the county.

Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 301: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to work with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism to develop schemes for product development to aid significantly the attractiveness of regions perceived to have nothing to offer and thus to open up a potential for employment in the tourism and service sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12216/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The statutory mandates of the enterprise agencies under my remit are targeted on manufacturing and internationally traded services, and not on product development. Job creation in the tourism and tourism-related service sectors is, in the first instance, a matter for my colleague the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the agencies under his remit. Therefore, there are currently no plans within my Department to develop schemes to create employment in the tourism and service sector.