Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures being taken to provide alternative job opportunities in a town, due to the recent closure of a long-established manufacturing facility (details supplied) in County Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22659/15]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the supports and programmes in place to assist former employees of a major manufacturing facility (details supplied) in County Monaghan that closed recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22660/15]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the supports and programmes in place to assist the former employees of a major manufacturing facility (details supplied) in County Monaghan, that closed recently, to obtain alternative job opportunities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22671/15]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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85. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the initiatives and measures being implemented by his Department and the State's industrial promotion agencies to provide new job opportunities, following the recent closure of a major manufacturing facility (details supplied) in County Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22672/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 to 85, inclusive, together.

This closure, which took effect on 29^thMay, is very much regretted. Following the announcement some months ago, I myself travelled to Carrickmacross to discuss the issue with some of the workforce there and I am very conscious of the need to pursue replacement jobs in the area.

I established an interagency group to co-ordinate the response from the State in terms of awareness of entitlements and opportunities for the affected staff of the company and, secondly, to pursue a replacement investor. This group is chaired by Enterprise Ireland and includes representatives from IDA Ireland, the Local Enterprise Office, the Education and Training Boards from Cavan/Monaghan and Louth/Meath, and the Department of Social Protection.

Initially the main work of the group has been to co-ordinate the response from the State in terms of awareness of entitlements and opportunities for the affected staff. This has been done mainly by Department of Social Protection in terms of benefits and the Educational Training Boards (ETB)/Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) in terms of courses and support for start-up businesses.

The Department of Social Protection has been very active in terms of meeting the staff in relation to that Department’s services and the Educational Training Board are pursuing relevant courses and training. Amongst the initiatives taken was that the Local Enterprise Office has facilitated several of the former staff of this company on a ‘Start your Own Business’ Course which that Office organised recently.

In relation to the second issue, finding a replacement industry for Carrickmacross, this remains a very high priority. I have been in regular contact with the IDA to ensure that everything possible is being done to market the facility abroad through their global network of overseas offices. I have also ensured that Enterprise Ireland is engaging with their existing client base of Irish-owned companies to pursue potential expansion opportunities into this plant. The building itself and the skilled workforce there, are both strong selling points.

The existing factory is not owned by the company, but has been leased from a private owner. IDA is in discussions with relevant parties to explore what will be involved in ensuring that the facility can be available for a new investor.

More generally, IDA will continue to highlight the strengths of the Border and North East regions to potential investors, and Enterprise Ireland will seek to continue to develop expansion projects by Irish companies in the area. However no specific new project has yet emerged.

Also, through the Action Plan for Jobs 2015and the development of new Regional Enterprise Strategies over the coming months, my Department and our Agencies will intensify efforts to sustain and accelerate job growth in the regions generally. The Government’s job creation policies are already achieving solid results. The Border region, which includes County Monaghan, had an unemployment rate of 17.7% just two and a half years ago and this is now down to 10.2% according to the latest CSO data. While still unacceptably high, this represents a very solid improvement and the National trend is steadily downwards as job creation improves.