20,000 new Enterprise Ireland supported jobs created in Kilkenny and south east
The number of jobs in Kilkenny and the south east rose by 20,000 in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland last year.
The 7% in employment growth locally was welcomed by Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan.
Deputy Phelan said: “Employment growth in Enterprise Ireland (EI) companies increased by 7% in this region in 2021, a year of record jobs growth for EI companies who are connected to markets all over the world from their bases in Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Waterford and Tipperary.
“My colleague Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD has confirmed that nationally, net jobs created in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland increased by 11,911 in 2021, the highest jobs gain in a single year.
“Last year €61.6m in funding was approved nationally for 341 Covid-19 impacted companies in 2021. Employment increased across all economic sectors, with particularly strong jobs growth reported in Life Sciences (14%), Business Services (12%) and Digital Technology (10%).”
Deputy Phelan (pictured ) said he wants Kilkenny and the south east to continue to benefit from employment growth. And he added a new three-year strategy for Irish business aims to create 45,000 new jobs by 2024 and increase exports to €30 billion.
The Kilkenny TD said: “The focus now is on restoring the jobs lost in the pandemic and then grow employment beyond pre-pandemic levels. The Tánaiste has confirmed that as part of the Government’s ambitious vision for the future of our economy, there is a plan to bring job opportunities and growth to all parts of Ireland increasing total employment to a record high of 2.5 million by 2024.”
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, added: “Over 200,000 people now work in Enterprise Ireland client companies. That’s almost as many people working for multi-nationals. It’s great to see Irish exporting companies performing so strongly last year notwithstanding the disruption to trade caused by Brexit and the pandemic. There was a net increase in employment of almost 12,000.
“I am particularly pleased that jobs growth occurred in all regions with almost 70% of new jobs growth occurring outside of Dublin and particularly strong growth in the north-west and south-east. This is an extra-ordinary performance and I want to thank the Enterprise Ireland team for their phenomenal work in the year gone by. We are well on our way to meeting our target of having 2.5 million people at work in Ireland by 2024.”
