Written answers

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Job Creation

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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167. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the degree to which she and her Department continue to support and drive the creation of new enterprises in the indigenous sector throughout the country with particular reference on the need to encourage the generation of employment in the regions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6353/18]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Driving more job creation at a regional level by supporting the indigenous sector is a key focus of mine and I am working closely with the Local Enterprise Offices and with Enterprise Ireland to achieve this. The first year of the Enterprise Ireland (EI)  2017-2020 Strategy was a very strong year for job creation among EI clients with over 19,300 new jobs created in 2017, resulting in a net gain of 10,309 jobs across the country. In 2017 EI supported companies employed 209,338 people. 65 % of client employment is outside of Dublin.

We are seeing growth in traditional industry sectors such as construction and manufacturing as well as in the Digital technology and LifeSciences sectors.

The Local Enterprise Offices’ (LEOs) annual results for 2017 are expected to be available in early March. The 31 LEOs are supporting their clients by providing information, training and mentoring on various issues as well as advice on other sources of support. Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur initiative rolled out by the LEOs has gone from strength to strength since 2014. In 2017 we have had an amazing response nationally with almost 1,500 entries from young people up and down the country. The national final will be held in March. Start-ups and early stage entrepreneurs are a crucial part of a growing economy and the Government will continue to support and help them scale faster through the work of the LEOs and EI.

The eight Regional Action Plans for Jobs are now embedded across the country and are good examples of local authorities, the Local Enterprise Offices and businesses working together to tackle regional issues. To support the eight Regional Action Plans, and as part of the Government’s strategic response to Brexit, additional funding of up to €60m is being rolled out by EI over the next 4 years. The Regional Enterprise Development Fund will 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 Funding will strengthen the enterprise capability and economic development potential within the regions. Twenty-one successful applicants representing all regions of the country have secured up to €30.5m for their projects in the first competitive call.  The second call is planned to be launched by EI in March 2018.

A key priority of mine is to ensure that this Government remains true to our export led growth policies. We will continue to support start-ups and ambitious companies across the country and help them scale faster through the work of the LEOs and EI. I will keep a focus on regional initiatives, on building strength and resilience among existing exporting companies and also on broadening the exporting base by doing all we can to get Irish companies the supports they need to get exporting and thereby create sustainable quality jobs.

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