Record year for Enterprise Ireland supported companies with creation of 8,476 new jobs – Corcoran Kennedy

“Enterprise Ireland’s End of Year Statement shows strong growth for Irish business in 2014 with a net increase of 8,476 jobs, the highest gain in one year in the history of the agency”, says Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael TD for Laois/Offaly and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Jobs Committee.

“Enterprise Ireland (EI) has reported that 8,476 additional people are now employed by EI supported companies and this comes hot on the heels of news of a record year for the IDA with the creation of 7,131 jobs and almost 5,000 additional positions in the local economy.

“ Enterprise Ireland supported companies now, directly and indirectly, account for more than 300,000 jobs in the Irish economy, that’s 16% of the total workforce.

“The progress made by EI and the IDA has come about as a direct result of the strategies and policies pursued by this Government and specifically by the Action Plan for Jobs led by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD.

“The Government has focused on job creation and on encouraging enterprise in Ireland. Every job created by an EI company supports an additional job elsewhere in the economy, so the impact of this on communities is immense.

“In 2015 the priority will be to support entrepreneurship across the regions. Thirty One Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) were launched in April 2014 to support micro enterprise and small business throughout the country. Competitive Start Funds will be made available again this year to provide critical early stage funding, and there will be an improved tax offering for people starting their own business. These measures are in addition to the Regional Enterprise Strategy which will provide extra funding to accelerate job creation in the regions.

“In 2014, it was extremely encouraging to see the large number of graduate entrepreneurs applying for competitive funds and also to note that 43 of the 183 start-ups supported were led by female entrepreneurs .

“Last week’s CSO Live Register figures showed a drop in unemployment from the high of 15.1% to 10.6%. Today the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan told us that the taxpayer is likely to recoup approximately €30 billion from the monies put into AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB, and Ireland is currently the fastest growing economy in Europe.

“The economy is steadily recovering and it is hoped that we will return to full employment two years ahead of schedule in 2018. However not everyone is feeling the benefit of this progress. This must change, the Government are committed to making work pay and this month will see the first step in that process as tax changes to income tax and USC will become evident in pay packets.”