Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will set up a task force to tackle the unemployment problem in counties Cavan and Monaghan over the past number of years; if he will evaluate and identify investment opportunities in counties Cavan and Monaghan in view of the lack of investment by the Industrial Development Agency over the past decade; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3178/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department and its agencies are working together to address the unemployment problem that is currently experienced in counties Cavan and Monaghan by implementing the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs which aims to create 100,000 net new jobs over the period 2012 to 2016.

IDA Ireland has statutory responsibility to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Ireland. At the end of 2012 there were 5 IDA Ireland supported companies in Cavan employing 1,000 people with 6 IDA Ireland supported companies in Monaghan employing 350 people. In accordance with its Horizon 2020 Strategy, IDA Ireland continues to engage with these client companies in order to transform the existing FDI base with a view to developing, retaining and growing employment opportunities.

IDA Ireland has assured me that it will continue to promote Cavan and Monaghan as part of its marketing efforts, in response to specific client queries and also on an opportunistic basis for the purpose of winning FDI projects for the two counties. The Agency has indicated that, in seeking to achieve this objective and the broader goal of securing new FDI projects for Ireland in a very competitive global environment, the concept of scale is crucial. Leading global corporations require access to Metro regions which have a significant population pool, access to qualified talent, world standard physical and digital infrastructure coupled with the availability of sophisticated professional and business support services. Ireland has only one such Metro Region, the Greater Dublin area, so, in order to achieve balanced regional economic development, the Agency prioritises the marketing of its Gateway locations within each Region as the locations of critical mass and highlights the opportunities provided by other locations on an opportunistic basis, which are within commuting distances of these Gateways. With continuing enhancement and improvements in physical and digital infrastructure, an FDI project secured for one Gateway Economic Region has a positive impact on other Gateway Economic Regions and their surrounding areas. Recent announcements by PayPal and Prometric, which will create a total of 1,100 jobs in Dundalk, and by Yapstone to create 120 jobs in Drogheda, will have a positive economic impact, both directly and indirectly, on Counties Cavan and Monaghan.

IDA Ireland has assured me that it will continue to market the North East Region for new inward investment through its Gateway of Dundalk, in line with the Government’s National Spatial Strategy, and to work closely with its 34 client companies in the North East Region that currently employ 3,200 employees. During 2012, as part of its marketing activities, IDA Ireland began an online marketing initiative, “Connect & Invest”, to showcase the unique attributes of individual regions to international clients and this initiative will continue to be implemented in 2013.

Conscious of the current challenging economic circumstances that we must address, IDA Ireland is actively considering opportunities as to how to leverage its property portfolio in order that additional investment and employment opportunities can be realised in the regions, including Cavan and Monaghan.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of the distinct actions contained in the Action Plan for Jobs 2012 that have been delivered to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3306/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Jobs contained over 270 individual actions to be delivered in 2012, spanning all Government Departments and 36 State Agencies. The 270 actions are broken down further into approximately 480 Quarterly milestones or “measures” which are reported on at the end of each Quarter. These Quarterly Progress Reports are published on my Department’s website, .

The most recent Progress Report published covered the Third Quarter of 2012. It indicated that 218 (96%) of the 227 quarterly milestones to be achieved in the first three Quarters of 2012 had been delivered, with nine actions oustanding.

The Progress Report for the fourth Quarter of 2012 is due to be published shortly. I anticipate that it will show a continued high success rate in delivering the quarterly milestones and will confirm that over 90% of the 270 actions under the Action Plan were implemented in full last year.

The process of robustly and rigorously monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs is a unique feature of the Government’s approach to the process of supporting job creation. It has ensured that all Ministers have remained focused on putting jobs at the heart of the Government’s agenda. This process will continue in 2013 in relation to the 2013 Action Plan for Jobs which will be published in the coming weeks.

Any actions which were not delivered from the 2012 Action Plan for Jobs will, where appropriate, be progressed in 2013 or replaced with alternative actions.