Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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26. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will respond to recent findings in the GeoView report compiled by An Post and Ordinance Survey Ireland which showed that the overall commercial vacancy rate in County Donegal stands at 14.2% with 32% in Ballybofey, the highest in the country, while the national average stands at 12.6%; how he will address the issues that are hampering business development in rural counties such as County Donegal to encourage balanced economic growth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2077/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Supporting enterprise development in all regions of the country in order to support job creation is a key objective of the Government.

Since the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2012, employment has increased by 135,800 across the economy as a whole and has exceeded the initial target set by the Government for 2016. Over 20,000 jobs have been created in the North East/North West Region, which includes Donegal, since 2012. Jobs supported by the Enterprise Agencies in the region – IDA, Enterprise Ireland, and Údarás na Gaeltachta have increased by almost 3,000 since the beginning of 2012. Also, at the end of 2014, total direct employment among the 1,049 client companies supported by the six Local Enterprise Offices in the Border region amounted to 5,323 jobs. Unemployment in the region has fallen from a high of 17.8% to the current rate of 9.3% (Q3 2015) since the Action Plan for Jobs was launched.

This Government is placing an increased emphasis on supporting business development and jobs growth in the regions, with initiatives such as the regional Action Plans for Jobs which seek to capitalise on the strengths and assets of each region to maximise enterprise growth and job creation.

The key targets for the North East/North West regional Action Plans for Jobs are to increase employment by 10 to 15% over the period to 2020, win 61 FDI investments by 2019, increase the number of start-ups in the region by a minimum of 25%, and improve the survival rate of new businesses by 25%.

In addition, the Plan identifies collaborative measures over the period 2015-2017 which will enable the region as a whole to realise its economic potential and create jobs. For example, IDA Ireland will collaborate with Enterprise Agencies, Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and Institutes of Technology to develop a marketing proposition to support an Insurance and Technical Services cluster in the NorthWest; Údarás na Gaeltachta will support the creation of 300-500 new jobs in Gaeltacht regions; a North West Skills Forum will be established to increase the flow of critical skills to the region; Failte Ireland will promote and market the Wild Atlantic Way and will examine the development of new loops to encourage a greater spread of visitors to the region; and the development of a Renewable Energy Innovation Centre at Killybegs will be explored to maximise the potential of the North West’s natural resources.

These are just a few of the measure contained in the Action Plan for Jobs for the North East/North West Region. I firmly believe that their implementation will benefit the local economy, facilitate the development of business and, by extension, encourage occupancy in work space and commercial properties in Donegal and the wider North East/North West region.

Six other Regional Action Plans (Midlands, South West, South East, Mid-West, West and Mid East) have been published to date, with the final plan (Dublin) due for publication later this month. Each of the 8 regional plans will be overseen by a Regional Implementation Committee which will review progress on the Plan every six months and Progress Reports will be published twice each year. The Plans will be flexible and dynamic to allow additional actions to be added as they emerge over the lifetime of each Plan. The goal is to increase employment levels by a further 10 to 15 per cent in each region by 2020 and to ensure the unemployment rate is within 1% of the State average.

All regional Action Plans will be supported by investment of up to €250 million over the next five years, including €150 million for a property investment programme by IDA Ireland. The intention is that a further sum of up to €100 million will be made available over the next five years through three competitive calls to be administered by Enterprise Ireland. These competitive calls will be targeted at innovative and collaborative approaches to support job creation across the regions.