Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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11. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he has taken over the past five years to encourage job creation and new inward investment in County Donegal, given that there have been only three site visits to the county in 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41748/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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In the five years up to 2011, Donegal lost 3,400 jobs with big falls in manufacturing and in Construction. This was also a period when employment in foreign owned companies stagnated and by 2011 represented less than 3.5% of total employment in Donegal. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that employment in foreign-owned companies have grown by 41% in the years since 2011, adding 758 jobs over that period.

The most recent example of this was the announcement in July of this year by Pramerica of the expansion of its facility in Donegal by 330 jobs.

It is important to note that data on site visits is not a true measure of the level of FDI activity in a region or county. Approximately 70% of all FDI investment won by IDA Ireland comes from its existing client base. Working with stakeholders is exceptionally important in positioning any regional location to attract FDI and IDA Ireland continues to do so in addition to working with existing clients in all regional locations to generate additional jobs.

It is important to recognise that foreign owned enterprise is only a small part of the enterprise base in Donegal. Overall in the county unemployment is down by over 4,000 and indeed the regional data shows that the Border region has exhibited one of the strongest patterns of employment growth in country. The forthcoming Action Plan for Jobs for the North West and North East will aim to build on that progress.

In addition to attracting Foreign Direct Investment to Donegal, I am very committed to encouraging start-ups and nurturing small, high technology companies, with potential for growth. There are 3,302 people directly employed in Enterprise Ireland client companies in Donegal., Enterprise Ireland has supported, through various programmes, 101 start-up entrepreneurs in Donegal in addition to a further 196 supported by the Local Enterprise Office in Donegal.

Next week, I will be officiating at the opening ceremony for the new ‘Science Park’ building in the grounds of Letterkenny Institute of Technology, will provide a valuable resource to help drive innovation and encourage a new generation of potential SMEs from the knowledge based sector.

I am also looking forward to publishing the Action Plan for the Border Region covering Counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth later this month.