Written answers

Tuesday, 12 July 2016

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Job Creation

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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804. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the efforts she is making to promote Mullingar, County Westmeath, as an enterprise hub considering the large and underutilised IDA park, its central location and skilled workforce. [21132/16]

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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805. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the action she is taking to source alternative industry for Mullingar, County Westmeath, considering her recent visit to the IDA park and the loss of 90 jobs in the region at a company (details supplied). [21135/16]

Photo of Mary Mitchell O'ConnorMary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 804 and 805 together.

On the Deputy’s invitation, I visited Mullingar in late June where I met with the local Chamber of Commerce and visited the IDA Business Park. The same day I also visited nearby Castlepollard where Enterprise Ireland client company, Mergon International, celebrated the launch of their global innovation centre.

In County Westmeath, there are sixteen IDA Ireland client companies employing approximately 2,300 people. Given the recent global economic environment, the existing foreign direct investment (FDI) client base has performed consistently and retained its presence in the county. In 2015, 212 new FDI jobs were created in the county as a whole.

IDA Ireland actively engages with its existing client base to support them in growing their business to retain jobs and expand their existing footprint in the region. An example of this is Patterson Pumps, who in September 2015 announced a 30-person expansion at the opening of its new manufacturing facility.

I am aware that Mullingar suffered some bad news recently with the announcement by Imperial Tobacco of the loss of jobs in the area. This is very much regretted and I am very conscious of the need to pursue replacement jobs. I have therefore asked IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to see what they can do to actively work on this.

I want to see job creation in every region of the country. My Department has published eight Regional Action Plans for Jobs, including a plan for the Midlands, which includes County Westmeath. The Plan for the Midlands targets manufacturing, tourism, food and energy as key sectors.

As part of the Regional Action Plans for Jobs, IDA Ireland is set to invest €150 million over five years in property solutions designed to allow it to create opportunities to win additional projects for all regions. As part of this programme of investment, the Agency is building nine advance facilities around the country, focused in particular on locations where the private sector has been slow to build. An advance office building is planned for 2017 for County Westmeath as part of the programme.

These new advance facilities are a positive development for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into regional locations. They will provide access to modern property solutions which, when combined with a strong local talent pool and existing FDI cluster, will give these locations an enhanced proposition to offer international investors.

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