New plan to create 10,000 new jobs in Kilkenny and South East

A NEW regional enterprise plan aims to create 10,000 new jobs in Kilkenny and the South East between now and 2020.

The South East Regional Enterprise Plan was launched by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys (pictured above).

The South East Plan – covering Kilkenny, Carlow, Waterford, Wexford and Tipperary –identifies five strategic objectives:

*Building greater resilience into the South East’s economy through more clusters, increasing entrepreneurship;
*Creating  a ‘Smarter Region’ with support for the green economy;
*Branding and marketing the South East as a place of choice for investors and talented people;
*Ensuring the region speaks with one voice on issues relating to critical infrastructure;
*Making the South-East a ‘learning region’ which responds to the skills needs of business in the region;
*Developing tourism in the region through a South East regional identity and a network of greenways, blueways and trails.

Frank O’Regan, Chair of the South East Regional Enterprise Plan, said: “These targets are ambitious but a quick glance around the region shows the depth of economic activity already underway.

“Over 32,000 new jobs have been created over the past six years in the South East region; Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland have posted record jobs numbers in the South East for 2018; and cutting-edge companies such as Bausch + Lomb, Glanbia and MSD have committed to investing around €500 million in the region in the last six months alone.

“There is so much innovative and ambitious business activity in the region and through the South East Regional Enterprise Plan we need to maintain the positive activity of everyone involved in job creation in the region.”