Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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78. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of jobs she plans to create in County Wexford with regard to the action plan for rural development; the measures her Department has planned in County Wexford to increase foreign direct investment by 40%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4135/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Rural Development recognises that strong regions provide the basis for improving economic opportunities and jobs potential in rural areas. In this context, the regional Action Plans for Jobs, which are co-ordinated by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, will play a key role in improving the operating environment for businesses so that enterprises throughout all regions can start-up, grow and create employment.

The overall goal of the 8 Regional Action Plans for Jobs is to have a further 10-15% of people at work in each region by 2020 and to ensure the unemployment rate of each region is within 1% of the State average. The Government has set a target of supporting the creation of 135,000 jobs outside the Dublin region by 2020.

The core objective of the South East Action Plan for Jobs, which encompasses the county of Wexford, is to have a further 25,000 at work in the region by 2020. The job creation target is for the region as a whole, and does not contain county-specific targets.

The detailed plans for increasing foreign direct investment in the regions are a matter for IDA Ireland. The IDA comes under the remit of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell-O’Connor, T.D.

The Action Plan for Rural Development will complement the regional Action Plans for Jobs and includes over 270 actions for delivery across a range of Government departments, State agencies and other bodies to support both the economic and social development of rural Ireland.