Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

29. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is aware of the urgent need to provide much needed additional job opportunities throughout County Cavan; the proposals, if any, his Department and the State's industrial promotion agencies have to assist in job creation and the maintenance of existing employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7867/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

30. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is aware of the urgent need to provide much needed additional job opportunities throughout County Monaghan; the proposals his Department and the State's industrial promotion agencies have to assist in job creation and the maintenance of existing employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7868/16]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 30 together.

Supporting enterprise development in all regions of the country in order to support job creation is a key objective of the Government, with initiatives such as the regional Action Plans for Jobs seeking to build on the capabilities and strengths of each region to maximise enterprise growth and job creation.

The North East/North West Action Plan, launched on 30 November last, aims to deliver 28,000 extra jobs in the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and Louth by 2020. Key targets in service of this overall goal are to achieve an increase of at least 25% in the number of start-ups in the region; a 25% improvement in the survival rate of new businesses; an increase in the number of IDA investments in the region by 30-40% up to 2019; and an increase of 300 to 500 in the numbers of Údarásna Gaeltachta supported jobs in the North West.

Sectors targeted as part of the plan include traditionally strong sectors for the region like agri-food, manufacturing/engineering and tourism, including active promotion of the tourism potential of the Lakelands Region, which includes Cavan and Monaghan.

Areas targeted for future growth include digital payments, cleantech and creative services.

Since the Plan was launched, focus has moved to putting in place a comprehensive implementation structure. A Regional Implementation Committee has been established, composed of key stakeholders in the region who will work in concert with Enterprise Champions - nominated senior private sector representatives - to oversee and monitor progress. The Implementation Committee will meet on 25 April to review progress on the delivery of the Plan’s actions. The first Progress Report on the implementation of the NE/NW Action Plan, covering the period to end-June 2016, will be completed and published in Q3 2016.

Key actions in the plan to be delivered over the period 2015-2017 include the establishment of a North West Regional Skills Forum to ensure the flow of critical skills to enterprises in the region; collaboration between the Enterprise Agencies, the Education and Training Boards and Institutes of Technology to develop a marketing proposition around the Insurance and Technical Services cluster in the North West; and a Regional Innovation Forum for the North East/North West region to help support more companies to innovate and engage in R&D.

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. 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 are being targeted at innovative and collaborative approaches to support job creation across the regions.

On 22 January, a €3m Regional Accelerator Scheme was launched, which aims ultimately to create more accelerator spaces in the regions where start-ups can locate their businesses and access supports. It is targeted that a further €3m will be leveraged with additional private sector investment to support this entrepreneurship initiative. This Regional Accelerator Scheme was the first competitive initiative to be launched under the €40m competitive regional jobs fund announced by the Government on 15 January.

Other elements of this fund to be rolled out over the coming months include:

- Opportunities to drive greater company/sector collaboration/clustering in the regions

- Driving procurement opportunities for start-ups and established small businesses

- Strengthening Third-level as a driver of regional enterprise

- Strengthening the start-up ecosystem locally.