Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
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47. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress that has been made in County Louth under the regional action plan for jobs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5976/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The North-East/North-West Regional Action Plan for Jobs is a key policy response for supporting employment growth in the Border region, including Co. Louth.

The Plan is stimulating job creation across the region, by facilitating collaborative initiatives between the public and private sector, and through the provision of new competitive funds, awarded through Enterprise Ireland to support regional enterprise projects.

The core objective of the NE/NW Action Plan is to have a further 28,000 at work in the region by 2020. A key objective of all of the Regional Plans is that unemployment in the regions lies no more than one percentage point above the  State average.

Sectors targeted as part of the Border plan include traditionally strong sectors for the region like agrifood, manufacturing/engineering and tourism.

The Local Authorities, enterprise agencies, and other key public and private sector stakeholders in Louth have been strongly involved in, and are key drivers of, the NE/NW Action Plan.

Implementation of the Plan’s 194 actions continues and is overseen and monitored by two Implementation Committees covering the North-West and the North-East regions which are composed of key regional stakeholders from both the private and public sector, and chaired by a regional enterprise champion. Progress reports are showing an implementation rate of more than 90% across all of the actions.

In terms of impact, 12,000 more people are in employment in the Border region from Q1 2015 (baseline year) to Q2 2017, representing good progress towards the target of 28,000 jobs by 2020 as set out in the Regional Action Plan.

The latest regional CSO figures show a 6.5% unemployment rate for the Border region, which is lower than the State unemployment rate of 6.9% (as at Q3 2017).

There has also been a remarkable improvement on the Live Register figures for County Louth. In January 2012, 17,745 people were in the Register compared to 9,016 in January 2018 – a drop of 49% over the last six years.

The enterprise agencies continue their work to contribute towards the ambitious targets set out in the Regional Action Plan. Enterprise Ireland recently announced a 5% employment growth in its client companies for County Louth, which now employ over 6,100 people. On the FDI front, the number of IDA-backed jobs grew by 4% as a whole last year, with almost 12,500 people employed in IDA companies across the Border region.

Through partnership between Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authority in Louth, the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) supported 231 small and micro-businesses employing over 780 people in the County during 2016. LEO Louth continues to play a vital role in providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own businesses in Co. Louth. Results for 2017 are expected to be published shortly.

Of course, the Regional Action Plans on their own are not sufficient.  They are being complemented by other programmes that the Government is working on at national level, including the national Action Plan for Jobs, the Action Plan for Rural Development, Regional Skills for a, and the forthcoming National Planning Framework.

Finally, I look forward to launching a second call for projects under the Enterprise Ireland Regional Enterprise Development Fund in March which will make available the remainder of the €60 million in funding to support enterprise capability in the regions following the initial allocation of up to €30.5 million across 21 projects nationwide in December 2017.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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48. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress that has been made under the regional action plans for jobs for the mid-east region; her plans to carry out a review of the plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5925/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Mid East Action Plan for Jobs is a key policy response for supporting employment growth in the Mid East region, with public and private stakeholders currently engaged in driving the range of innovative and practical actions set out in the Plan.  

Progress on implementation of the Regional Action Plans is constantly under review and two Progress Reports on the implementation of the Plan’s 162 actions have been published to date, with a third one currently being finalised that will cover the second half of 2017. All reports show that good progress is being made in the Mid- East region with an implementation rate of over 90% across all of the actions. 

The efforts by the stakeholders and businesses in the region are paying off: there are now 19,300 more people at work across Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow since the launch of the Regional Action Plan initiative in Q1 2015. This represents very good progress towards the 25,000 additional employment target to 2020 as set out in the Plan.

The latest figures from the CSO show that the Mid East has an unemployment rate of 6.2%, the lowest in the State and below the average for the State (in Q3 2017).

The enterprise agencies in particular are working very hard towards the ambitious targets set out in the Plan for the Mid-East. In 2017, Enterprise Ireland client companies increased employment by 4% in the region, and now employ over 20,500 people in total.

IDA have also recently announced that FDI-related jobs across the region have grown by 6% in the last year, with over 101,000 people employed in IDA client companies in the Mid-East and Dublin region.

Through partnership with Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities, the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) in Meath, Kildare and Wicklow supported 475 small and micro-businesses employing over 2,500 people in the Mid-East region during 2016. The LEOs continue to play a vital role in providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own businesses in the region. Results for the LEOs in 2017 will be published shortly.

To further support enterprise development across all regions, additional funding of up to €60m is being rolled out by Enterprise Ireland over the next 4 years to support the development and implementation of collaborative and innovative projects that can sustain and add to employment at a national, regional and county level.  This regional competitive fund will support the ambition, goals and implementation of the Regional Action Plans for Jobs. The results of Call 1 were announced in December 2017 with up to €30.5 million allocated towards 21 projects from all around the country. Co. Kildare Community Network Company CLG was one of the successful applicants under the competitive fund under Stream 2 (€250k to €2m) for their MERITS project (Mid East Regional Innovation Think Space).

Since 2015, The Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative has been a central pillar of the Government’s ambition to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020, with 135,000 of these jobs to be located outside of Dublin. Building on the strong progress that has been recorded to date in the Mid-East region is a key priority for me, and officials from my Department are engaged with all of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs Committees with a view to continuing and refining their work to realise the employment targets focused on the period to 2020.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise development and job creation in the regions of Ireland is a key policy priority of this Government and my Department has been actively engaged in the regional jobs agenda through the Regional Action Plan for Jobs (RAPJ) initiative for the past two years.

The Regional Action Plan for Jobs 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. A key objective of each of the 8 regional plans is to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the unemployment rate of each region not more than one percentage point greater than the national average.

The Midlands Regional Action Plan for Jobs was launched in June 2015, and is the key policy response for supporting employment growth in the region.  It includes a series of practical actions to support enterprise growth and job creation in the region, within clear timelines for delivery. The Action Plans seek to capitalise on the particular strengths and opportunities of the region and has been developed by my Department, with the support of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, in close consultation with regional stakeholders from the public and private sectors. 

A central aim of the regional Action Plans for Jobs is to champion the concept of regional collaboration from the ‘ground up’ to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the region that grows jobs and enterprises.

There has been very good progress in the Midlands region in terms of employment creation since Q1 2015 with some 9,500 more people in employment up to Q2 2017. This is against an overall target of 14,000 additional jobs by 2020 as set out in the Midlands Plan.

While Live Register numbers have fallen in all four Midland counties in the past 12 months, CSO figures show that the unemployment rate in the Midlands is currently at 9.3% (Q3 2017), which places the region in a small group of those (including the South-East and Mid-West) whose unemployment rates are more than one percentage point higher than the State average.

This is too high, especially since the Q3 2017 State average is 6.9%, and underlines the importance of retaining a focus on regional enterprise development and job creation in the Midlands.

Importantly, the Midlands Plan has been embraced within the region and the Enterprise Agencies are working hard to drive local job creation and contribute to the job creation targets set out in the Plan.

In 2017, both Enterprise Ireland and IDA reported job increases in the Midlands of 6% and 1% respectively. Enterprise Ireland’s Midland clients employed almost 12,500 people in the region in 2017 and County Westmeath enjoyed a 7% growth, the 7th highest in the country with 3,741 people now employed in the county.

The Local Enterprise Offices operating under the auspices of the Local Authorities and Enterprise Ireland in Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath continue to play a vital role in providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own businesses in the region. LEO Westmeath employed 1,375 people, an increase of 7% since 2014. Results for 2017 are expected to be published shortly.

In December last year, I announced an allocation of €30.5 million in funding to support enterprise capability in the regions, with 21 projects from all over the country receiving funding. This Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) totalling €60 million is being rolled out by Enterprise Ireland over the next 4 years to support the development and implementation of collaborative and innovative projects that can sustain and add to employment at a national, regional and county level.  The Fund supports the ambition, goals and implementation of the Regional Action Plans for Jobs.

The Irish Manufacturing Research CLG project located in Mullingar was one of the significant funding recipients under Stream 1 of the REDF, which will be an important support to manufacturing activity in Westmeath and indeed, the Midlands region. In addition, Longford is a partner in a Stream 2 project to develop a network of three Digital and Innovation Hubs with Leitrim and Cavan.

I look forward to launching a second call under the REDF in March this year, which will make available the remainder of the €60 million.

My priority is to continue to work with stakeholders collectively within the Midlands to build on the progress to date on implementation of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs over the period to 2020, and to focus on leveraging the key strengths of the region.

Finally, my Department is also working closely with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government in relation to the National Planning Framework and development of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies, and with the Department of Rural and Community Development on roll-out of the Action Plan for Rural Development.