South East had highest failure rate for job creation targets

THE South East had the highest failure rate when it came to meeting Government targets for job creation.

The Government’s regional enterprise plans placed targets on all of the country’s regions to reduce unemployment to just 1% of the national average, which currently stands at 6%.

But three regions – the South East (8.6%), the Mid-West (7.2%) and the Midlands (7.1%) – all have higher rates of unemployment that this.

The economic recovery allowed all the country’s regions to reduce their unemployment rate, which was as high as 14.9% at one stage.

But because the South East has the highest rate of unemployment of any region, a new South East Regional Economic Development Office has been set up with the support of the five local authorities in the area, including Kilkenny County Council.

Last week KilkennyNow.ie reported that Kilkenny was one of eight counties, including neighbouring Carlow and Wexford, that received three or less IDA-assisted visits from multinational companies last year.