Minister to visit ballina for action plan for jobs business forum
The Minister for Jobs and Enterprise, Richard Bruton, is to visit Ballina on Friday, January 30, to meet with local businesses and industry in relation to the Action Plan for Jobs and to discuss enterprise strategy and jobs policy for the region.
The visit follows an invitation by his Fine Gael colleague Deputy Michelle Mulherin earlier in the year. The format will be a breakfast briefing and consultation. Also in attendance will be department officials, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the recently established Local Enterprise Office, who will be on hand to deal with queries and offer advice and support.
Deputy Mulherin explained how the meeting is a precursor to a regional enterprise strategy, which is being developed for the area by Minister Bruton and his department.
“It is being modelled on the highly successful action plan for jobs, which has seen the creation of 80,000 jobs nett to date since the government came into power - in stark contrast to the 250,000 jobs which were lost in the final three years of the last government.
“The objective is to encourage jobs and investment in the regions and not alone in the big urban centres. We have great potential for growth in the west in our tourism industry, in the agri-food sector, and through our considerable track record of attracting foreign direct investment in the medical devices and bio pharmaceutical sectors both in high end manufacturing and research and development. What we need are the right focus and supports to overcome challenges in the development of business in our area.
“The regional enterprise strategy will involve all stakeholders in the region, including government agencies and business representatives. As well as having objectives, the RES will have goals and targets, which will be measured to ensure implementation.”
Already government agencies are working on the ground in Mayo. In the past couple of years we have seen an expansion of both Hollister in Ballina with a €80 million investment and in Allergan, Westport, with a $375 million investment.
Deputy Mulherin added: “There are 18 IDA supported companies in Mayo. It is worth bearing in mind that 70 per cent of job creation nationally through the IDA comes from existing IDA companies. Therefore the reality is that the number of visits by the IDA with new investors into the county is not a proper indicator of performance by the State company within the county.
“There are 260 additional people employed in IDA supported foreign companies in Mayo compared to 2010. This is a 12 per cent increase. And there are 152 more people employed in Enterprise Ireland supported indigenous companies - a five per cent increase on 2010 numbers.”
Deputy Mulherin pointed out that the number of people on the Live Register in Mayo has fallen by 2,032 since 2011. Contrast this with the situation between 2006 and 2011 when the number of people at work in Mayo fell by 3,200 people.
“The Action Plan for Jobs has been a great success, such that Ireland is now the fastest growing economy in Europe. The regional enterprise strategy is an excellent initiative now being pursued by government to enable similar growth in the regions and the Action Plan for Jobs business forum is an excellent way to generate further momentum for jobs and investment in our area,” she added.