Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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23. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he will take to replace jobs lost at Bank of America and AvantCard in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41424/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I share the Deputy’s concerns regarding job losses in the Carrick on Shannon area. However I am heartened by the latest CSO data which shows that broadly speaking the unemployment rate has halved, with 22,700 less people unemployed in the Border and Midland regions since 2012. The details are that unemployment in the Border Region (which includes Leitrim) has fallen from 17.7% to 9.3% and in the Midland Region (which includes Roscommon) it has fallen from 18.3% to 12.4%. While the current unemployment rates are still too high, this reduction has been a considerable achievement for this Government.

The banking industry has seen many changes in recent years and is constantly evolving, mainly due to different customer practices, especially the growth of online banking from mobile phones. Call volumes to call centres such as this one have been greatly reduced and this has led to a lower demand for activity there. Avant Cardhave therefore made a strategic decision to reduce their workforce, in order to ensure the future development of the business. I understand that Avant Cardhave stated that they expect these to be the final layoffs in their adjustment process.

As part of the ongoing work to secure new jobs to replace those lost at various stages over recent years in the former MBNA facility, both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland continue to fully engage with their existing client companies and, in the case of the IDA, with prospective new international investors, to market the facility and especially to make them aware of the skilled pool of former staff. The State Agencies have a strong record of sourcing alternative employment in many cases such as this and their efforts will continue.

We in Government are only too well aware of the discrepancy in growth between the capital and the regions and, as a result, I set about introducing an initiative for Regional Action Plans for Jobs. The purpose of this initiative is to identify a range of actions over the period 2015 - 2017 aimed at facilitating each region to achieve its economic potential and raise employment levels. The Border Region Action Planwhich includes County Leitrim, will be published very shortly. Just last week the Taoiseach and I launched the Western Region Action Plan for Jobs, which embraces County Roscommon. Both of these strategies have a comprehensive set of proposals to drive job creation in those regions in the years ahead.