Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am informed by IDA Ireland that it is actively seeking an investment for the new building in Athlone and is confident of a positive outcome. As property is one of the key considerations for clients when choosing a location, the availability of suitable premises in Athlone will provide an additional positive element in the Midlands.

IDA Ireland promotes Westmeath as part of its Midlands Region, which also includes Counties Longford, Laois and Offaly. There are 35 multinational companies employing 4,032 within the Region. The Region is marketed as having a strong cluster in Medical Technology and Life Sciences and is home to many key clients, one such example being Covidien in Athlone.

Growing both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and indigenous enterprise is key to Ireland’s economic recovery. I am glad to inform the Deputy that 2014 was a record year for both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in terms of investment wins and job creation, with 7,131 net new jobs being created in IDA Ireland client companies and 8,476 net new jobs being created in Enterprise Ireland client companies.

As the Deputy is aware, the Action Plan for Jobs 2015 was launched on 29th January last. This is the fourth annual plan in a multi-year process, which began in 2012. When the First Action Plan for Jobs was launched, unemployment stood at 15.1%. Today it stands at 10.6% and we are on track to exceed our target of 100,000 additional jobs by 2016. We are now setting a goal to bring employment to 2.1 million by 2018 – 2 years ahead of our original target.

We are determined to ensure that every region will benefit from the recovery. Yesterday, along with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, I announced the details of a comprehensive new strategy to support enterprise growth and job creation at regional level. The Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative seeks to build on the success of the annual Action Plan for Jobs process by developing locally driven plans that can build on the strengths and opportunities identified in each region.

The strategy will provide up to €250 million over five years in additional funding to support regional enterprise development. This includes the roll out of a five year, €150 million property investment programme by the IDA to attract foreign direct investment into the regions. This programme will build on the recent investment by the IDA in a number of advance manufacturing facilities in regional locations. A further sum of up to €100 million will be available to Enterprise Ireland to support enterprises in the regions to start-up, grow and export, thereby creating more jobs in regional locations.