Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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328. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the discussions he has held within the international banking sector regarding the possibility of expanding operations to Carrick-on-Shannon in County Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12951/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I have asked both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to pursue all possible options in seeking to source an alternative employer and find alternative employment for those impacted by the Bank of America/MBNA redundancies in Carrick on Shannon, which unfortunately took effect in November last. As part of this ongoing work, IDA Ireland are engaging with key players in the International Banking and Financial Services sectors to market the facility to them and, of course, to make them aware of the financial services skills of the former staff. Other sectors are of course also being targeted in an effort to find an alternative employer.

There have been a small number of preliminary enquiries about the facility, both from foreign owned and Irish owned businesses but it is too early in the process to be specific about their potential.

The Government is very committed to Regional Job Creation. In pursuance of this objective, under the 2015 Action Plan for Jobs which I launched earlier this year, it is intended to develop and publish a suite of Regional Enterprise Strategies, based on consultation with key stakeholders at regional level, which are already underway, and on the analysis of the strengths of each region. All will include specific actions for all the enterprise development organisations and other public bodies active in each region, to promote enterprise growth and job creation. Of course specific issues and factors relevant to particular regions, such as the MBNA closure, will be fully embraced in the new Strategies.