John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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289. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the details of the projects supported by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in the constituency of Dublin South-West; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7540/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Jobs for the Dublin Region was launched in January 2016, the last of 8 Regional Action Plans to be published. The core objective of the Plan is, through the delivery of 90 collaborative actions, to increase employment in the region by 10-15% to 2020, resulting in the delivery of 66,000 additional jobs to the region in that period. The first Progress Report was published last December and reflects the good work made to date, with an implementation rate of 94%.

South West Dublin is part of the Dublin Regional Enterprise Strategy which was developed by the four local authorities of the Dublin region. This Strategy builds on the work of the Dublin Action Plan for Jobs and provides a coherent and coordinated approach to promoting enterprise, employment and entrepreneurial activities in the Dublin region for 2017-2019.

Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in Dublin employ 70,365 people including 7,579 new jobs created in 2016.

In 2016, projects and initiatives supported by Enterprise Ireland in the constituency of Dublin South West include:

Supporting Innovation: Enterprise Ireland, in partnership with the Institutes of Technology, has established a nationwide network of 15 Technology Gatewaysone of which is the MiCRA Gateway in Institute of Technology Tallaght. This Gateway provides solutions for companies in the in-vitro diagnostics, environmental, food and pharmaceutical sectors.

Supporting Start-Ups: In 2016 Enterprise Ireland awarded four Competitive Start Funds to new start-up companies based in Dublin South West. In addition, five companies of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Class of 2016 came from South Dublin.

Fostering Entrepreneurship: Thirteen entrepreneurs participated on the New Frontiers Programme in IT Tallaght in 2016. Three of the companies emerging from this programme became Enterprise Ireland clients. In addition, the Student Enterprise Awards, co-funded by Enterprise Ireland, is run annually in the Institute of Technology Synergy Centre Tallaght.

Driving Regional Enterprise Development: The South Dublin LEO, collaborating with the other Dublin LEOs received funding under Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive LEO Funding Scheme, for a project targeted at the Dublin food producer cohort and focuses on the creation of an online video education platform to enhance knowledge, improve skill sets and develop producer competencies.

In 2016, IDA Ireland supported companies in Dublin employed 82,622 people. Within this, 9,000 new jobs were created.

Foreign Direct Investment: There is an increasing trend of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) locating in larger urban areas. Dublin is an international-scale city and, as such, has a key role in attracting investment. It is critical that the planning and development of Ireland’s capital city creates a world-class urban area that continues to attract not only international investment but also international talent.

Currently, IDA positions Dublin and the Mid East in the market place as an investment location with a strong ecosystem of both indigenous and multinational companies operating across a diverse range of sectors. Complimentary to and supporting this footprint of export orientated enterprise is the large educated population of talent available to companies, physical, educational and digital infrastructure and a business environment that is competitive and fit for purpose.

Dublin is now an internationally renowned cluster for Technology and Financial Services companies but is also home to a number of other companies such as the large Life Sciences such as Pfizer, Takeda, Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb all of whom leverage the abundance of infrastructure and utilities available in the capital to run their operations. Dublin as an investment location will always be the key economic driver for the East of the country.