Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

27. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the level of analysis undertaken by his Department, and agencies under the remit of his Department on the availability of existing and possible future needs for infrastructure, such as roads, public transport and broadband in the western region, which are necessary to encourage investment, and promote indigenous job creation. [18411/15]

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

Sustained investment in economic infrastructure to underpin employment growth has been one of the key priorities of the Action Plan for Jobs. The soon to be published Capital Investment Programme along with other Government strategies such as the National Broadband Strategy will identify key infrastructural priorities to be addressed within the constraints of available resources.

The availability of competitively priced world class infrastructure (energy, broadband telecoms, transport, waste and water) and related services is critical to support economic growth and job creation.

My Department and its agencies engage on a continuous basis with other Department and agencies and the private sector on the particular infrastructure needs required to support enterprise development and job creation in all regions of the country including the Western Region. In June 2014, Forfás made a submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s review of capital investment outlining the main capital priorities for the period to 2020 to support enterprise development and job creation.

Earlier this year, the Government announced details of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative which seeks to build on the strengths and assets of each region to maximise enterprise growth and job creation. My objective is that six Regional Action Plans, including one for the West region, will be launched by July, with the two remaining plans in development at that stage.

In launching the Action Plan for Jobs: Regional initiative, I also announced that new funding of up to €250 million will be made available over the next five years to support job creation through enterprise growth in the regions. This includes €150 million for an IDA property investment programme to attract foreign direct investment into the regions, and €100 million to Enterprise Ireland to support indigenous enterprises to start up, grow and export. As part of IDA’s capital investment programme, a total of nine locations were identified in the recent announcement as headline investments to occur in the period 2015-2017 - including facilities at Galway and Castlebar within the West Region. The Enterprise Ireland funds will be distributed through three new competitive calls which will be announced by Enterprise Ireland over the coming months. Funding will be allocated to the best ideas across the regions. Tangible jobs impact, enterprise start-up and scaling are amongst the criteria against which applications will be measured. Innovative collaborations among different regional agencies or stakeholders will also be favourably weighted.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

28. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way he and his Department communicated the need for new or upgraded infrastructure with other Departments and agencies responsible for providing or leading such investment; and if there are permanent lines of communication between the relevant parties in order that investment and improvements can be made without delays, which could impact on investment and job creation. [18414/15]

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

The availability of competitively priced world class infrastructure (energy, broadband telecoms, transport, waste and water) and related services is critical to support economic growth and job creation. Investing in economic infrastructure to underpin employment growth has been one of the key priorities of the Action Plan for Jobs since its inception in 2012. Despite the economic downturn this Government has continued to prioritise investment in key infrastructures and as set out in the 2015 Spring Economic Statement is committed to infrastructure investment to underpin future growth and the Public Capital Programme will be published over the coming months.

My Department and its agencies are continually engaged with relevant stakeholders on the particular infrastructure needs required to support enterprise development and job creation. The stakeholders include other Government Departments, regulatory bodies and public and private infrastructure providers. In addition, I am a member of the Economic Infrastructure and Climate Change Cabinet Committee. Officials from my Department are members of the relevant Inter-departmental Committees.

As the country returns to growth, further targeted investment and reform is required to address existing and likely infrastructural bottlenecks which could constrain growth in the economy by dampening productivity growth, increasing costs and limiting sectoral opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) and indigenous enterprise development. However, given the constraints on Government finances, capital investment in the short term must remain highly targeted and support our broad economic development objectives. In this context, I announced earlier this year as part of the Action Plan for Jobs an investment programme of €150m over five years by my Department through IDA Ireland in utility intensive sites to help attract more multinational jobs to the regions.

My Department (and previously through Forfás) assesses Ireland’s performance in meeting the infrastructure needs (energy, telecoms, transport, waste and water) of enterprise on a frequent basis. For example, in June 2014, Forfás made a submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s review of capital investment outlining the main capital priorities for the period to 2020 to support enterprise development and job creation. The review, which will focus on infrastructural investment consistent with the Government’s economic and social priorities including the investments that would best support economic recovery and social progress, is to be published next month.

There is also significant scope for Government to improve infrastructure capacity and deliver more cost effective, higher quality services to business users without the need for Exchequer investment by addressing policy and regulatory barriers. It is critically important to put in place the right policy and regulatory framework to give investors the confidence to commit to long-term projects, and ensure the supply chain has the certainty and tools it needs to deliver effectively. For example, as part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2012, I requested Forfás to undertake a study to identify changes in the operation of sectoral regulators that would enhance cost competitiveness, which informed the Government Policy Statement on Economic Regulation, published in July 2013.