Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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112. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his Department and IDA Ireland are actively seeking to create manufacturing jobs in the west of Ireland; the efforts made by his Department and IDA Ireland to create manufacturing jobs in the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43999/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Strategy for the Manufacturing Sector, which I commissioned, and which was published in April 2013, identified that an additional 20,000 jobs can be created in the sector by 2016. A complementary report on the skills needs for the sector, which I had commissioned at the same time, was published by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and Forfás, and it identified a series of actions to enhance skills in the sector.

Arising from the Manufacturing Strategy and the Skills Report, there are now a range of initiatives in hand by relevant Agencies to drive the 2016 target, with key actions from both reports having been incorporated into the Action Plans for Jobs. A wide range of training and educational initiatives are underway by the relevant providers, such as Skillnets.

In order to provide industry insight for the development of policy initiatives, I established a Manufacturing Development Forum, comprising industry practitioners. One of the key results from the work of the Forum, and adopted in the Strategy, is the development of a National Step Changeinitiative, aimed at strengthening Ireland’s manufacturing base across all firms and sub sectors, redressing perceptions of the sector as a career choice and removing barriers to the competitiveness of the sector in Ireland.

The Strategy does not identify specific locations around the country for the expansion of the sector. However, a particularly attractive feature of manufacturing in Ireland is the fact that many of the present jobs are not in the main urban areas, but dispersed into regional locations, thereby providing a valuable employment focus in areas where alternative jobs are scarce. The further development of the sector will, of course, build on this key feature.

Both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are working with both existing and prospective new client companies to promote the sector in Ireland, including in the Western Region, with consequent job creation and retention, and several recent new job announcements have been in respect of companies engaged in manufacturing, which is very heartening.

However the ultimate decision on location of a plant rests with the individual company involved. Nevertheless, our Development Agencies make all possible efforts to ensure that the more peripheral regions are fully considered for the development of manufacturing opportunities.