Michael Collins demands detail on jobs in West Cork peninsulas

Minister, could you provide detailed information on the employment opportunities created by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment since 2024 in Cox South West, specifically in areas like the Bear Peninsula, Mizzenhead Peninsula, Sheepshead Peninsula and areas from Inneshannon to Bantry. I think it is important that we create and are seen to be creating good jobs there for the people of that constituency. There are now 26,026 people employed in Enterprise Ireland supported companies in County Cork, an out increase of 846 jobs during 2024. There is also positive job creation recorded across the three LEOs based in County Cork, with 3,076 jobs supported by the 618 LEO clients. This represents a net gain in 2024 of 119 jobs. The FDI performance in the South West region, which comprises counties Cork and Kerry have been consistent over the past five years, with employment among the IDA clients increasing by 17 per cent. There are 235 IDA client companies in this region, employing over 51,000 people in the area. In Cork, there are 219 IDA companies employing some 49,898 people. Recent announcements in Cork indicate that Ireland's value proposition remains strong. For example, in February, Infion announced their creation of 50 jobs and last November saw Cork announced $126 million investment created more than 115 jobs. The South West has a significant ecosystem of established companies across technology, life sciences, international finance services and engineering and industrial technologies. This will also have one significant investment across all of these sectors over a sustained period, which has contributed significantly to employment growth and positive economic impacts on other sectors of the economy. I continue to emphasise the importance of regional development in my role in the Department's agencies in driving economic growth in Cork. I want to highlight the efforts of Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and the LEOs to provide businesses with the resources and support they need to thrive, particularly in areas across the capital. Thank you, Minister. I feel to welcome you to your new role when I started to speak here, so the very best to look to you going forward. I was very specific in my question. I have raised the same question with your predecessor here. I got a lot of answers, but I did not get very specific to the places, because I am very concerned, especially living in a peninsula myself, but I am very concerned about the peninsula. Where is the Department of Trade, sorry, of Enterprise Trade and Employment focusing on areas like the Bearer Peninsula, the Mizzenhead and the Sheep's Head? How are they creating or what kind of jobs are they creating? These areas have had a downturn in agriculture, as Parliament is going through a struggle at this present time. Pushing has been decimated in those peninsulas. I see a wave of cars leaving West Cork every morning to Cork City. Nothing wrong with jobs in Cork City and they are very best looked to everyone, but you said there are 50 jobs in one area created there recently. There are 115 with $126 million investment. What part of Cork were they specifically assigned to them jobs? I do take your point. I know that balanced region development is a key priority for the Government and all TDs who are from maybe more rural parts of the country as well, so I will raise your specific questions further with the Department following this. The number of jobs in Enterprise Ireland supported by companies in County Cork has increased by 846 since 2023, with 26,026 people now employed in the county by those companies. The regional impact of Enterprise Ireland's efforts is evident in the distribution of job growth across all nine regions, recording a positively increased number of employment figures. I take your point here today, you are very specific areas within the county that you are concerned about, so we will see if we can get further information on that. There was positive creation recorded across the LEOs in Cork, as I said, with 3,076 jobs created and supported by the 618 LEO clients in the county, and these companies record a net gain of 119 jobs. The IDA clients are now employing 165,484 regionally, or 55 per cent of the client base employment. There are 219 IDA clients across companies in Cork employing over almost 50,000 jobs, but I will come back to you more specifically on the areas that you have enquired about. Thank you. I appreciate that, if you could, Minister, because, you know, obviously employment is good, no matter where it is. I do know there are massive employers in Cork City, like Appleton, the pharmaceuticals and others out there that are just second to none, and are to be always welcomed and secured. There are quite a lot of people maybe spending two hours in a car, going up every morning to Cork to work, and coming back down again to West Cork, because there is no major employment opportunities in those areas, and I did pick the bear on the sheep's head and the mizzenhead, but I have also concerns from, you know, Dribble Eaghan, Skibereen, Clonciltie, Benderie and Benderie and Benderie, so I would appreciate maybe in your reply that you said you are going to send me that they would be more specific as to where the jobs are being created, because it looks to me as if the department is very much concentrating on the city, which is hugely important, yes, but I have forgotten that there is an area two hours west of Cork City that people would like job opportunities equally, and they can be, if there is just a little bit of vision and a bit of, you know, a common sense approach. Thank you. Sorry, it's my first day, I forgot to come back again, but as I said, Deputy, thank you very much, and I take a note of the specific areas that you have asked. Of course, we do all want to try and create that re-balanced regional development you are talking about. Perhaps the introduction of AI may allow companies to do that and allow people to work in the more rural parts, and we will certainly put a focus on that with Enterprise R and the IDA and the LEOs to see how we can support them in achieving that. Thank you. You