Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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376. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 81 of 29 January 2015 regarding the 2011 Killybegs, County Donegal, jobs initiative, if he will provide the figures for job creation achieved as a result of the initiative. [15614/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On 3 June 2011, I announced a pilot jobs initiative for Killybegs, following the launch of an economic report for the European Commission, which assessed the status, development and potential diversification of Killybegs as a fisheries dependent community. The aim of this initiative was to create 250 cross sectoral jobs in the Killybegs area by 2014. Seafood processing was just one of the areas identified as having the potential to create additional employment. I am informed by Bord Iascaigh Mhara that by the end of 2014, 89 jobs had been created in seafood processing companies in the Killybegs area. At this time, I do not have information available to me on jobs created in areas outside of my area of responsibility. The seafood sector continues to be a high-growth area of the economy and indeed of our food industry. Exports have grown 70% since 2009 and the sector is now worth €850 million in sales. Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Bord Bia are working with seafood companies in Killybegs and elsewhere around our coast to grow the sector to €1 billion in the next few years. This will be driven by our seafood processing sector adding value to commodity products, innovating and developing new consumer seafood products, with the assistance of BIM’s Seafood Development Centres in Clonakilty and Killybegs, and winning new markets in Europe and the Far-East for Ireland’s top quality seafood. Just last month I announced financial support for two more capital investment projects by Killybegs seafood companies. On 9 May last year, I attended an information launch by Biomarine Ingredients Ireland of their plans to build the largest marine food ingredients plant in the world in Killybegs and I understand that plans for that are progressing well. It is clear that the future is very promising for the seafood industry generally and Killybegs is central to that growth story. While the Killybegs Jobs Initiative was important in terms of fostering a diversified blue economy in Killybegs, seafood will continue to be the driver of economic growth for Killybegs in the years to come.