Written answers

Thursday, 24 May 2018

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Regional Action Plan for Jobs

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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15. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the mechanism by which her Department monitors the achievement of goals under the regional action plans for jobs; the progress on each of the goals in each region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22631/18]

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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This Government has made jobs and enterprise in the regions a top priority.

The Regional Action Plan for Jobs (RAPJs) 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 Plans are being monitored and driven in each region by Implementation Committees, comprising representatives from the private sector, as well as the Local Authorities, Enterprise Agencies, and other public bodies in the region.

Some of the actions set out in the RAPJs require active engagement with, and the development of networks within, the private sector. To drive this process, key industry figures have been appointed to act as Enterprise Champions within each Region.

Progress to date is good and employment continues to grow strongly.

The reporting of progress on actions under the Regional Action Plan for Jobs is coordinated by my Department in conjunction with the Regional Implementation Committees, Programme Managers and Secretariats. This information is collated through an online reporting tool, managed by my Department. Each Action in the RAPJ has a nominated “owner” of the Action, depending on its area of focus. Across the original eight Regional Action Plan for Jobs, there were 1,276 actions in total.

To date, my Department has published two Progress Reports per Region, with the third and fourth Progress Reports currently being finalised. The fourth Progress Reports will be final reports under the current iteration of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs, closing out the narratives on Actions for the 2015 – 2017.

Building on the momentum of the 2015-2017 Plans, my focus, and that of my Department will now turn to the refresh and refocus of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs through to 2020 which will place an emphasis on delivering to a smaller number of key strategic objectives in support of enterprise and job creation in every region. The refreshed Plans will capitalize on the added value that comes from collaborative action where for example there is: a particular (sectoral) opportunity for the region; a barrier to enterprise investment and or entrepreneurial activity; and/or a regional vulnerability that needs to be responded to.

In the second Progress Reports, on actions up to the end of 2016, the following was recorded for each Region:

South-West:

248 of the South West Action Plan’s 261 actions were due to be initiated or completed by the end of 2016. 237 of these were on track to be delivered, or had been completed. 4 actions were delayed; 7 actions were no longer being progressed or had been deemed unfeasible. This represented an overall implementation rate of 95%.

West:

179 of the West Action Plan’s 194 actions were due to be initiated or completed by the end of 2016. 175 of these were on track to be delivered, or had been completed. 4 actions were delayed; 2 actions were no longer being progressed, or had been deemed unfeasible. This represented an overall implementation rate of 97%.

South-East:

165 of the South-East Action Plan’s 190 actions were due to be initiated or completed by the end of 2016. 162 of these are on track to be delivered, or had been completed and 3 actions were delayed or no longer being progressed. This represented an overall implementation rate of 98%.

Midlands:

By the second half of 2016, 92 of the Midland Action Plan’s 121 actions were due to be initiated or completed. Some 84 of these were on track to be delivered, or had been completed. 4 actions were delayed while another 4 were no longer being progressed or had been deemed unfeasible. This represented an overall completion/ implementation rate of 96.5%.

Mid-East:

136 of the Mid East Action Plan’s 163 actions were due to be initiated or completed by the end of 2016. 127 of these were on track to be delivered, or had been completed. 4 actions were delayed; 5 actions were no longer being progressed, or had been deemed unfeasible. This represented an overall implementation rate of 93%.

Dublin:

By the end of 2016, out of the 100 actions, 76 were ongoing, 18 were complete and 6 were delayed. This represented an overall implementation rate of 94%.

Mid-West:

120 of the Mid West Action Plan’s 159 actions were due to be initiated or completed by the end of 2016. 114 of these were on track to be delivered, or had been completed. 2 actions were delayed; 2 had been merged with others due to similarity of objectives; and 2 actions were no longer being progressed, or had been deemed unfeasible. This represented an overall implementation rate of 95%.

North-East/North-West:

By the end of 2016, 117 of the North East/North West Regions Action Plan’s 153 actions were due to be initiated or completed by the Departments and Agencies. Some 113 of these were on track to be delivered, or had been completed. Only 1 action was delayed while 3 were no longer being progressed. This represents an overall implementation rate (i.e. actions already complete or on track for completion) of 96.5%.

Monitoring implementation and publication of progress reports will continue under the refreshed Regional Plans.

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