Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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217. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the projected number of extra jobs targeted in each nomenclature of units for territorial statistics 3 region by 2020, by year, in tabular form, as envisaged under the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11149/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Partnership Government provides, inter alia, that the ultimate goal of the Government will be to deliver sustainable full employment by 2020. In this context, the Government is committed to the implementation of the Regional Action Plans for Jobs, with local input, to help spread growth to all areas. The Regional Action Plan initiative brings the different stakeholders in each of the 8 NUTS III regions together to identify a range of innovative and practical actions, to be taken across a range of Departments and agencies, with clear timelines for delivery over the period 2015 – 2017. The plans will be monitored and driven in each region by Implementation Committees, comprising representatives from the Enterprise Sector, as well as the Local Authorities, Enterprise Agencies, and other public bodies in the region. Collaboration between the private and the public sector has been a core element in each plan’s development, and will be central to each plan’s delivery.

A key objective of the plans is to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the aim of having the unemployment rate of each region within one per cent of the national average.

The targets for additional jobs to be created in each of the 8 NUTS III regions are included in each plan and are set out in the table.

Achieving these ambitious targets at regional level will require a renewed focus on building on regional strengths, assets and areas of competitive advantage to develop the attractive and competitive environments for business to start, grow and succeed on international markets and to attract inward investment.