Little IDA action in Clare

AS unemployment continues to ravage the country, a very frightening statistic has emerged in relation to job creation efforts in County Clare.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Batt O’Keeffe, in response to a Dáil question from Deputy Pat Breen, has confirmed that just one IDA-assisted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) greenfield project has located in the county in the past five years.
An estimated 4,000 jobs should materialise from the 42 IDA-supported new projects that have sprung up around the country in the five-year period from 2005 to 2009. Minister O’Keeffe, in his written response to Deputy Breen, said in the same five years, a total of 48,569 jobs were created in IDA-supported companies. This figure takes account of new projects and expansions.
However, the lion’s share of the greenfield investments by the 42 companies went to Dublin. Twenty-six projects are dotted around the capital and just three came to the Mid-West.
In 2008, Channel Advisor announced the creation of 15 jobs in the Limerick Business Development Centre, while DTS announced 50 jobs in their Limerick headquarters in the same year.
Zimmer Medical Technologies in Shannon, where 250 jobs were announced in February 2008, stands as a lone beacon of light in the dark and dreary unemployment blackspot that has become County Clare. Company closures, sweeping redundancies and reduced working hours have taken their toll on the county’s economy and the Mid-West as a whole is in dire straits.
Live Register figures at the end of March show that, on an annual basis, there has been an increase of almost 18% in unemployment levels. The Mid-West has taken the biggest hit with an increase of more than 20%, which is above the national average.
The unemployment rate among young people is of particular concern. In the Mid-West alone, 39.4% of males and 18.3% of females between 15 and 24 years are unemployed and the region’s unemployment rate of 30% for that age range is the third highest in the State.
It’s disappointing to be reminded of how bad job creation efforts are in Clare and the Mid-West as we near the first anniversary of the publication of the interim report of the Mid-West Taskforce, which was established in response to the major job losses at Dell and a number of other companies in the region. Despite the ideas and proposals that flowed from this forum, there’s still no sign of action on the recommendations, which included prioritising the region for FDI projects.
Deputy Pat Breen has said the lack of IDA job creation projects announced in the Mid-West is “a sad indictment of this Government’s failure to prioritise this region for job creation in spite of all the warnings they have received”.
There should be unequivocal support from all quarters in the region for Mr Breen’s demand of the IDA to deliver on its commitment to refocus its efforts on balanced regional development, by committing 50% of FDI investments to areas outside of Dublin and Cork as outlined in the Horizon 2020 plan. He also wants Clare and the Mid-West to be prioritised as a location for FDI investment.
The Mid-West Regional Authority has also warned that attracting foreign direct investments are pivotal to the recovery of the region. The organisation highlighted this in a new brochure, outlining the benefits this region has to offer multinationals.
Meanwhile, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) has, through a new programme, held out hope to third-level graduates trying to secure work. Graduates are being offered the opportunity to gain on-the-job experience without losing their social welfare benefits.
IBEC has a wide range of work experience opportunities available through its GradLink initiative (www.ibec.ie/gradlink) and companies in the Mid-West and across the country are looking for graduates from a wide range of degree courses.
Around 60,000 graduates completed their studies in 2009 and while some of these will return to education, a significant number are seeking employment.
IBEC Mid-West regional director Chris O’Donovan has described as “a major concern” the lack of work opportunities for recent graduates in the region. He is concerned that a significant number are now unemployed and unable to put into practice the skills they have developed throughout their years of training and education.
There is a great fear that the brain drain of yesteryear will be repeated as graduates see emigration as the only way to gain employment in their specific area of qualification. The GradLink programme will allow graduates to use their skills in a real life workplace, while the Department of Social and Family Affairs has agreed that participants will remain eligible for social welfare benefits.
This initiative is a step in the right direction to ensure that well-qualified people have a future in the Irish workforce. Otherwise, we could be left with a serious dearth of talent. Those who brought the programme to fruition are to be commended for their efforts. We need more of the same.

Out of bounds
The idea of extending Limerick City boundary into County Clare is still an anathema to Clare County Council members.
Clare councillors on Wednesday concluded, “there is no justification, whatsoever” for ceding any of the Banner County to the city, which has expanded through suburban growth into South-East Clare. However, in considering the Draft Submission to the Limerick Local Government Committee at a special meeting, the councillors bizarrely decided not to comment on proposals to unify Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council.
This decision was taken in the knowledge that, on Monday, Limerick County Council approved the idea of a unified local authority in Limerick, with limited responsibilities for services in a small part of South-East Clare. It does not support any boundary change.
Limerick City Council is due to discuss the issue this Thursday while it will be the turn of the Mid-West Regional Authority to mull over matters in Ennis on Wednesday next. This could well be a futile exercise given that it will hear once again, albeit in a different forum, from members of local authorities who have differing views on the Clare/Limerick boundary.
While adhering to the traditional stance, Clare councillors asserted that the council is committed to working in partnership with adjoining local authorities in terms of service delivery and regional development. They also believe that any alteration to the county boundary will not in any way enhance the existing model of co-operation at regional level.
With so many different opinions on the issue, it’s certainly going to be a long time before a consensus is reached.