Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

553. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her strategy for job creation on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal; how Inishowen can benefit from the designation of Letterkenny as a gateway town and from the Letterkenny-Derry gateway initiative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16854/16]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

554. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of visits to County Donegal by potential investors organised by the Industrial Development Agency Ireland in each of the years 2009 to 2016 to date. [16855/16]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

556. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her role in working in partnership with her northern counterpart, in marketing the north west cross-Border region of counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh for inward investment and job creation. [16857/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 553, 554 and 556 together.

Official employment figures maintained by the Central Statistics Office show that the border region, including Donegal, has seen an increase in employment of 8,300 from the start of 2011 to end of quarter 1 2016. Donegal has performed strongly as well in terms of IDA Ireland-supported inward investment since 2011. I include a table setting out IDA Ireland-sponsored site visits to Donegal since 2009.

The concrete evidence of winning further investment for the county can be seen in the Agency’s results. In the past five years, employment in IDA Ireland client companies there has grown to 2,530 from a base of 1,877 – an increase of 35%. In addition, there are now 3,567 people directly employed in Enterprise Ireland client companies in Donegal.

This all shows that significant strides have already been made when it comes to securing new employment and investment projects for Donegal and the region. The Government remains focused, however, on uncovering new opportunities for the Inishowen peninsula, the county and the wider area in the time ahead.

The North East/North West Action Plan for Jobs, launched last November, aims to deliver 28,000 extra jobs in the counties of Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Louth, Monaghan, and Cavan 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 Údarás na Gaeltachta-supported jobs in the North West.

My Department works closely with its counterpart in Northern Ireland on enterprise development issues which are mutually beneficial. We also strongly support the work of InterTrade Ireland, the North-South Body, which operates a range of business development activities and is co-funded by both administrations. In addition, our two Departments co-fund a strand of the EU’s INTERREG Programme, which supports a range of research and innovation initiatives. I look forward to meeting my counterpart, Minister Simon Hamilton MLA, at a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in due course.

Last November, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan T.D, announced the establishment of a North West Development Fund to support the North West Gateway Initiative work of Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council. Through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Government has allocated €2.5 million towards the establishment of the Fund. The Northern Ireland Executive is working on the modalities of its matching funding.

IDA Ireland-sponsored Site Visits to Donegal 2009 - 2015, and Q1 2016