Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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233. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the structures that will be put in place to rebalance economic development in regional areas such as County Carlow and the south east which have a higher percentage of unemployment than other areas; his plans to use empty commercial properties as advance factories to attract foreign direct investment to these areas. [3410/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Jobs continues to be the Government’s main policy instrument to support employment in all regions of the country. Since the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2012, employment nationally has increased by approximately 80,000.

Employment in the South East region has increased by 21,300 since Quarter 1 2012, and the unemployment rate for the region has fallen from 20.1% to 13.7%, the largest decrease of all regions. While this represents good progress, the unemployment rate for the South East is still above the national average of 11.1% in the latest Quarterly National Household Survey published by the Central Statistics Office. The Government is now placing an increased emphasis on supporting job creation at a regional level to ensure a balanced share of the recovery.

The 2014 Action Plan for Jobs contained a number of measures to support competitive regions, including the development of a framework for Regional Enterprise Strategies and the commencement of building works by the IDA in a number of regional locations, including Waterford in the South-East region.

We will intensify our focus on the regions in 2015 and, as I have announced previously, we will develop Enterprise Strategies for each region on a phased basis. In a manner similar to the Action Plan for Jobs, the Regional Enterprise Strategies will identify measures that can be taken to enable each region as a whole to realise its economic potential and create jobs, building on its existing competitive strengths and opportunities.

The first Regional Enterprise Strategy to be published will cover the Midlands region. This will be followed by an Enterprise Strategy for the South East, which includes County Carlow, and will build on the South East Employment Action Plan which I published at the end of 2011. I anticipate that the process of developing the Regional Enterprise Strategy for the South East will commence in February. It is my intention that 6 of the Regional Enterprise Strategies will be launched by July with a further two in development.

The availability of suitable property solutions for businesses is likely to be an issue for both indigenous and potential foreign investment companies, and will be among the matters to be considered and addressed as we develop the Regional Enterprise Strategies.