Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if consideration will be given to the creation of special development zones in areas of the country unable to attract job creating investment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30671/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Effective regional development is a key concern for my Department. Consequently, our Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative is working to promote regional and rural job creation by bringing different stakeholders in each of the eight regions together to identify innovative and practical actions, to be taken across a range of Departments and agencies, with clear timelines for delivery over the period 2015 – 2017. The focus of my Department is on the delivery of the Regional Action Plans as the approrpiate level of policy and operational focus and we do not operate a programme of 'special' development areas or zones.

The Plans are being monitored and driven in each region by Implementation Committees, comprising representatives from the Enterprise Sector, as well as the Local Authorities, Enterprise Agencies, and other public bodies in the region.  Collaboration between the private and the public sector has been a core element in each plan’s development, and will be central to each plan’s delivery.

Furthermore, my Department is working closely and continuously with the Department of  Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government on the development of the new National Planning Framework (NPF). This engagement, informed by Enterprise 2025, relates to a number of issues including the role of enterprise, the factors that shape the potential of each region, the need to cater to the differing development potential and requirements across regions to optimise potential for growth and the importance of investments in economic infrastructure (and combinations of infrastructures) to support economic development. 

The most recent figures from the CSO also show that over 70% of all jobs created in the past year were created outside Dublin.