Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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94. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Enterprise Ireland supported jobs in County Kildare; the steps it is taking to increase this number; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30502/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through its enterprise agencies, is committed to supporting businesses to grow, innovate and perform strongly in global markets.

I am delighted to say that 2017 was a particularly good year for job numbers and job creation in agency supported companies. In Co. Kildare, 9,134 people were employed in Enterprise Ireland supported companies, representing an increase of 5% on 2016.

Underpinning Enterprise Ireland’s 2017 employment results are a range of activities and supports to help companies in Kildare to innovate and remain competitive in international markets, now and into the future. In the period 2015 - 2017 Enterprise Ireland paid €11.7million to client companies in Kildare to support companies to be innovative, improve competitiveness and to diversify their global footprint. 

Enterprise Ireland is working with established client companies in Kildare through teams of sectorial focused development advisors. Using a company led diagnostic approach, the agency can tailor a support package to the company’s growth potential based on their ambition, capability and need.

In addition to direct client support, Enterprise Ireland has funded the establishment of a national network of business innovation centres and specialist bio-incubation facilities across the Higher Education Sector including the Innovation Centre located at Maynooth University. These internationally recognised facilities are important drivers of regional development, with the majority of companies located at these facilities remaining in their region after they have completed their incubation period.

Enterprise Ireland’sNew Frontiers Development Programme, the national entrepreneur development programme for early-stage startups, is run in partnership with 14 Institutes of Technology throughout the country. New Frontiers Midlands & Mid-East Entrepreneurial Programme is run at Athlone Institute of Technology in partnership with Maynooth University and supported 13 entrepreneurs in 2017.

In late 2017 , under the Regional Enterprise Development Fund, over €11m was approved for projects in the Eastern and Midlands region including funding to the County Kildare Community Network Company CLG.

The Technology Centre Programme is a joint initiative between Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland allowing Irish companies and multinationals to work together in these centres including the Innovation Value Institute (IVI) Technology Centre at Maynooth University. These centres are resourced by highly qualified researchers associated with research institutions who are empowered to undertake market focused strategic R&D for the benefit of industry.

Enterprise Ireland funding has supported the establishment of Community Enterprise Centres in every county throughout the country, including three in Allenwood, Clane and Athy. These centres provide space in a supportive environment for budding entrepreneurs and serve to help the development of entrepreneurship locally.

Brexit presents a significant challenge for Irish companies and Enterprise Ireland is seeking to build resilience within client companies to deal with any kind of Brexit. The launch and development of a Brexit SME Scorecard, an interactive online platform which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit under six business pillars. There have been 2328 engagements on the scorecard to date, with 78 Scorecards engaged with in Kildare.

The Mid East Regional Action Plan for Jobs is a key policy response for supporting employment growth in the Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.

Some 22,800 jobs have been created in the Mid East region since the initiative was launched in January 2015 while the unemployment rate in the Mid East region has fallen since then and now stands at 5.4% according to the CSO (Q1 2018).

Furthermore, Live Register numbers continue to fall in County Kildare, down from 19,368 in July 2012 to 9,427 in May 2018, a decrease of almost 10,000. There is of course always room for improvement but the latest CSO figures are testament to the Government’s efforts to help create jobs and reduce unemployment.

I am aware that further efforts are needed to ensure that jobs continue to be created in Kildare and in doing so, ensure that employment creation is sustainable. To this end, the I will ensure that Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with companies in Kildare and across the region to promote job creation.