Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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644. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the efforts to provide employment at a site (details supplied) in Clonmel, County Tipperary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39609/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The loss of jobs in Clonmel earlier this year was deeply regrettable. There is a clear need to create other employment opportunities in the region and both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are working hard with that goal in mind.

As part of this work, IDA Ireland has developed a detailed brief on the former Suir Pharma facility which is helping to inform the Agency’s intensive marketing of the site. In addition, the remit and scope of the South Tipperary Interagency Group has been expanded to include Suir Pharma. This group will help ensure that state agencies and relevant training bodies provide the maximum support possible to former employees of the company.

The progress made by the wider South East region, however, has been heartening. A number of Pharma companies, for example, have created new jobs there in recent years. Unemployment in the South East has fallen from 20.1% in 2011 to 10.4% by the end of September 2016. Efforts are continuing to reduce joblessness further, including through the Action Plan for Jobs for the South East. This plan targets, in particular, the creation of new jobs in manufacturing and international financial services and I am confident that we will see continued investment in these sectors there in the future.