Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 249: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent of job losses in the past five years; the number of replacement jobs created during the same period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31514/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The table below sets out the numbers in employment/unemployment and the number of redundancies in the years 2004 to 2008.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 252: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the efforts that have been made to identity areas seriously affected by job losses in recent years; her plans to put in place measures to address the accruing economic issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31517/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Employment and unemployment are measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and published by the Central Statistics Office. While an increase in unemployment (22,600) is recorded throughout the country in the last two years, this is more than exceeded by the increase in employment (87,500) in all regions in the same period bar a slight decrease in the Mid-West region.

FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs are working together so they can respond quickly to the increase in unemployment, for example:

FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs have agreed that redundant workers will be referred immediately to FÁS rather than wait for three months on the Live Register as was the case before. FÁS has also established a training fund to enable a speedy response to identified re-training needs for low skilled and redundant craft workers.

FÁS is, with the Local Employment Services provided by Area-Based Partnerships, currently gearing up its Employment Services further to provide increased capacity for expected increased referrals from the Live Register.

FÁS will be providing a range of certified, short, flexible, modular programmes designed to upskill redundant workers so that they can enhance their prospect of securing employment. A number of programmes are already in place and the frequency and range of these will be expanded over the coming months.

A range of actions are being implemented by FÁS for those affected by the construction slowdown, including –

FÁS will focus on providing retraining opportunities for redundant construction workers in emerging areas within the construction sector, such as:

the installation of sustainable technologies

environmental activity

compliance and regulatory work

FÁS will also assist individuals in anyway they can in seeking employment aboard in construction in other EU countries. FÁS have held European construction jobs fairs for employers from other EU countries.

Strong, balanced regional development and a thriving culture of entrepreneurship in all parts of Ireland are key strategic objectives for the Department and the development agencies under its remit. The Agencies are working to ensure that the economy and jobs continue to grow even in the current more challenging environment and have had some notable successes already to report this year. The pipeline of new business for which IDA Ireland is competing is as strong as at any time in recent years.

In respect of IDA Ireland, winning FDI requires focused co-operation and collaboration between all key stakeholders including Institutes of Technology, Universities, Research Institutes, Local Authorities, Government Departments, Employers/Industry Organisations, Chambers of Commerce, Utility Providers (e.g. Eirgrid / Bord Gáis etc.), Infrastructure Providers (e.g. NRA), Service Providers, Construction Industry, and Sister Agencies such as SFI, Enterprise Ireland, Forfás and FÁS. IDA has a close working relationship with its sister agencies.

IDA Ireland, as part of a renewed focus on securing FDI, has targeted new sources of FDI in Mumbai, Shanghai, Boston, and Sth California. It has also increased its resources in our London and Atlanta offices.

In addition, IDA Ireland has an active programme of client engagement to support the existing clients and secure additional investments. In this respect it pays particular attention to clients in vulnerable sectors in regional locations and works with them to continue to secure their investment in Ireland.