Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 210: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs relocated from County Kildare in the past seven years; the reason for the relocation; the action taken to address such reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25778/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Statistics on job relocation are not compiled by the Industrial Development agencies. However, I understand that the number of jobs lost in agency assisted companies (IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland) over the last seven years in Co. Kildare is 5,321. In the same period, these two agencies created a total of 8,117 jobs.

Over the seven-year period from 1999 to 2006, permanent jobs in IDA Ireland assisted companies increased by 1,967 to 10,869 in County Kildare. Permanent employment in Enterprise Ireland assisted companies in the County increased by 829 to 5,430 in the same period.

There has been a significant turnaround in the nature of employment in recent years. The most significant areas of new employment are services and high-end manufacturing rather then traditional low-cost industries. The Government has recognised the changes taking place across the world markets for both trade and investment. The emphasis is now on enterprise policies that equip companies with the ability to compete better in world markets, capture the opportunities provided by globalisation and build competitive advantage in innovation and knowledge.

According to the latest Quarterly National Household Survey which is for the second quarter of 2007, approximately 425,000 people have been added to our workforce nationwide since the corresponding quarter in 2000. This represents unprecedented growth with more than two million people now in employment. Job relocations, which inevitably arise in the globalised marketplace, have been far exceeded by new job creation, usually accompanied by higher skilled and better paid employment. I expect this to continue.