Business
Enterprise stats show East/West imbalance
The West is lagging significantly behind other regions in terms of job creation by Enterprise Ireland-assisted companies, new figures show.
It’s the latest in a series of official State and European reports which shows the massive economic disparity between the regions.
According to Enterprise Ireland’s Annual Report for 2013, a total of 959 jobs were created by their clients in the West region last year. That compares poorly to the likes of Dublin-Mid East (5,471); the South (3,188); the Border (1,338), but is slightly above the totals for the Midlands (820) and Mid-West (756).
But while there were almost 1,000 jobs created by EI-funded companies in the West last year, there were losses of 601.
The means there was a net increase of just 358 jobs, bringing the total for full-time employment to 10,485 – an increase of just over 3.5%. In Dublin-Mid East, there was a net increase of 1,584 (2.5%); in the South, the increase was 696 (1.8%); in the Midlands it was 549 (7.3%); in the Border region it was 306 (1.9%) and in the Mid-West it was 127 (1.2%).
For full-time employment totals for clients of EI, the West is almost bottom of the barrel at 10,485. Only the Midlands has a lower total, at 8,033.
Dublin-Mid East tops the league table at 65,294, followed by the South at 38,646, the Border 16,504 and Mid-West at 10,756.
Enterprise Ireland is the State organisation which helps to develop and grow Irish enterprises into world markets.
“The strong performance of our client companies and their capacity to continuously innovate, develop new products and services and win new export business against the toughest of international competition, represent a tremendous achievement,” said Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland.
“This success in the global marketplace has given rise to the highest net jobs creation recorded in the last decade.
“These companies are contributing hugely to the performance of the Irish economy. Driving continuous innovation and export growth leading to job creation right across the country will continue to be the major focus for Enterprise Ireland over the coming years,” said Ms Sinnamon.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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