Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This Government is strongly committed to regional development and my Department and its agencies are working towards ambitious targets to ensure that employment and investment are evenly distributed across the country. The employment situation in the South East has been steadily improving in recent years. I am pleased that there has been a substantial increase in job creation in the region since the commencement of the National Action Plan for Jobs in 2012, with an additional 33,600 in employment in Q2 2017 compared to Q1 2012.

Overall, there are now 13,000 more people in work in the South East region since the launch of the Regional Action Plan initiative in Q1 2015. This initiative is a central pillar of the Government’s ambition to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020, 135,000 of which are outside of Dublin. The core objective of the Plans is to see a further 10 to 15% at work across each region by 2020.  The South-East Action Plan for Jobs has been developed on the basis of a series of consultations with stakeholders in the region, identifying particular strengths and opportunities in the South East.  The South East APJ is monitoring a number of emerging projects with potential for job creation and enterprise opportunity in the region in the future.  For example:

- The APJ committee is working with the South East Regional Skills Forum to assess and respond to the skills needs of industry in the region;

- A new value proposition for the region to promote the South East as a great place to live and work is being developed;

- A South East Micro Food Export Initiative aimed at assisting micro food companies has been developed by the South East LEOs and will be launched shortly.

My Department and agencies, including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs, continue to work together to implement this plan.

Looking ahead, the IDA is targeting - as part of its 2015-2019 strategy - an increase of investment in the South-East region of 30% to 40% by 2019. To achieve this, the Agency will continue to draw the attention of potential investors to the region's particular strengths. These include the South East's accessibility, its ports and its existing cluster of medical technology firms. The Agency will work closely with its existing clients in the region to help strengthen and potentially grow their respective workforces.

In terms of site visit statistics, whilst they can be a useful indicator of new investment interest, they are not by any means indicative of the potential for FDI in an area.  I would point out in this regard, that at least 70% of investment comes from existing IDA Ireland clients.  Regular engagement and collaboration with stakeholders is important in positioning any regional location to attract FDI and in this respect the IDA continues to work with all stakeholders and potential clients as well as working with existing clients in all regional locations to generate additional jobs. However, the final decision on where to locate an investment is always decided by the client and not by the IDA.  

While more work remains to be done in the wider South East region - the overall employment trend in the area is one of steady improvement.  My Department and its Agencies will continue to do their utmost to ensure that further progress is made in the time ahead in terms of creating more jobs and reducing unemployment further.