Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

35. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the envisioned breakdown of the 35,000 planned new jobs by those coming from foreign direct investment, indigenous enterprises and region in view of the fact that the 2018 to 2020 expenditure report states the Government plans to grow the number of jobs supported by the various enterprise agencies from 435,000 to 470,000 in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49615/17]

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

Yearly job creation by IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices is captured by the Annual Employment Survey (AES) conducted by my Department and published in January each year.  The 2016 survey remains the most up to date and accurate source of information on Enterprise Agency job creation until the 2017 figures are published early next year.    

I believe the statistics the Deputy is referring to in his question are those contained in the 2018 Budget Day/Expenditure Report which refers to the 435,000 Agency supported jobs verified by the AES at the end of 2016.  The Expenditure Report reflects that my ambition is to grow this to 470,000 directly supported jobs during 2018.  This would mean that over the course of 2017 and 2018, 35,000 jobs would be created by EI, IDA Ireland and the LEOs. 

Progress towards this target to date is good and employment continues to grow strongly. Encouragingly, the unemployment rate has fallen in all regions in the past year while, during the same period, more than three out of every four new jobs created were outside Dublin.  

EI, IDA Ireland and the LEOs publish their yearly targets as part of the Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) process.  Through the APJ the Government has committed to creating 200,000 new jobs by 2020, with 135,000 of these to be located outside of Dublin. As part of the APJ process the Government aims to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the unemployment rate of each region to be brought within one per cent of the national average.  

Each of the Agencies have their own strategies targeting this ambitious levels of job creation over the coming years.  Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for 2017-2020 aims to create 60,000 jobs, while sustaining existing ones, which will make an important contribution to economic growth across all regions of Ireland.  

As part of its 2015-2019 strategy IDA Ireland aims to create 80,000 new jobs and 900 new investments in the period from 2015 to 2019 – which would bring total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) employment in Ireland to 209,000. I am pleased that over the first two years, the Agency is delivering well ahead of those targets with 2016 being a record year for FDI investment in Ireland. IDA client companies created nearly 19,000 new jobs during the year across a range of sectors, with every region of Ireland benefitting. This strong performance has continued into 2017 and investments approved by the Agency in the first half of this year will lead to the creation of 11,000 jobs – this compares with 9,000 for the equivalent period in 2016. 

The LEO 2016 annual jobs survey results highlighted three consecutive years of local jobs growth throughout the country: with a net increase of 3,679 jobs and total direct employment among LEO client companies standing at 34,634. 

Last year collectively the Agencies under my Departments remit - LEOs, EI and IDA Ireland - were responsible for the creation of almost 46,000 jobs with 28,000 of these outside Dublin.  An additional 66,100 jobs were created during 2016, well in excess of the APJ 2016 target of 50,000 new jobs.  The numbers in employment increased in all regions during 2016 with 70% of the new jobs added in 2016, or 46,270 jobs based outside Dublin.  

Through EI, IDA Ireland and the LEOs 70 new jobs are being created per day and over 50,000 new jobs have been delivered in the past two years.  I am confident, on the basis of the excellent progress made to date, that total Agency supported employment will grow to 470,000 by 2018.