Fine Gael candidate for Dun Laoghaire, Mary Mitchell O’Connor has today (Wednesday) said that Fine Gael’s plans to grow the number of jobs in export orientated companies over the next five years, will have a positive impact on job creation in COUNTY.

Fine Gael will allocate at least €500 million to accelerate export led job growth across the country from the €4bn Future Jobs Investment Fund, with a specific focus on regional job creation. Fine Gael’s exports plan will target growth from three key export streams:

• Exports from Irish owned companies,
• Exports from foreign owned companies based in Ireland,
• By growing our tourist numbers and revenues.

Speaking today Mary Mitchell O’Connor said:

“Fine Gael is aiming to create 200,000 extra jobs over the next five years, and we want 80,000 of those jobs to be in export-orientated companies. That will help to ensure that the unemployment rate in REGION dips below 7% by 2020.

“To help ensure that those ambitious targets are achieved we will allocate €500m from our €4bn Future Jobs Fund towards developing the capacity of Irish exporters in Dun Laoghaire to grow their business. This is an integral part of our plan to make sure that every region feels the benefit of the recovery

“Building on the success of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs, which has funding of €250 million, our new Future Jobs Investment Fund will commit €500 million of extra funding in the years ahead. This will allow Enterprise Ireland to provide additional support to Irish owned companies focused on exports and will provide extra funding to the Local Enterprise Office in Dun Laoghaire.

“Under Fianna Fáil, the Irish economy steadily lost its competitiveness and our economy became increasingly dependent on buying and selling houses and apartments to each other. Fine Gael, on the other hand, has a Long Term Plan for the Economy built around enterprise, innovation and – crucially – exports.

“By helping companies in Dun Laoghaire to grow their export markets, we can build a sustainable recovery where jobs are created and maintained in every region.  Fine Gael has the plan and it is committing the resources to help our Irish enterprises to grow and create even more jobs in the years to come.”