Minister Bruton to convene third South East Forum as IDA site visits to the region almost triples

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton TD, will tomorrow (28th March) convene the third meeting of the South East Forum in Waterford. The forum was established by Minister Bruton to drive implementation of the South East Employment Action Plan. The forum represents 24 agencies and key stakeholders.

Among the developments in the South East since the establishment of the Forum are:

· Following a commitment in the South East Plan to bring a particular focus to the region, IDA Ireland has dramatically stepped up its focus on the South East with 26 site visits by potential investors to Waterford in 2012 (compared to a total of 11 in 2010). Site visits to the entire South East have increased from 16 in 2010 to 46 in 2012.

· Among a range of jobs announcements for the region, Eishtec created 280 jobs in Waterford city, supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland, as well as 250 jobs the company announced for Wexford

· A major focus has been put on stimulating start-ups in the region, including a €200k Competitive Fund and business development managers for 5 community enterprise centres

Minister Bruton said:

“The South East has suffered disproportionately from unemployment over the years, and shortly after taking office I established the South East Forum with a plan to address these problems. In the South East Employment Action Plan we committed to bring a particular focus to the region, by bringing together all the key State bodies together to pursue initiatives to support job-creation in the South East.

“Since then we have seen major progress, including several significant jobs announcements and a tripling of the number of site visits by IDA Ireland.

“I will continue to work with the South East forum, with all regional stakeholders and with members of the Oireachtas to ensure continued implementation of the South East action plan, and I am determined to ensure that through our work we will continue to see increased job-creation in the South East”.