THE NUMBER of Enterprise Ireland backed jobs in Limerick has risen by 9 per cent in the last year, according to figures just released.
There are 8,269 people now employed by companies supported by the agency in Limerick, representing an increase of 664 jobs since the end of 2016.
The increase is net of people leaving jobs, a spokesman told the Limerick Post.
According to the report, every region recorded job increases with 64 per cent of new jobs created outside of Dublin. In excess of 19,000 jobs were created across Ireland by companies supported by the agency in 2017.
Construction, life sciences and engineering sectors delivered the largest jobs increases.
And Enterprise Ireland has launched a new Market Discovery Fund in response to the anticipated challenges of Brexit.
The fund will support Enterprise Ireland backed companies to diversify into new markets and promote new products to existing markets. There are three levels of funding available to companies; up to €35,000, up to €75,000 and up to €150,000.
Announcing details of the new fund, Chief Executive, Julie Sinnamon said: “In the context of Brexit, consolidating exports to the UK, while expanding the Irish export footprint in markets beyond the UK is a key priority for Enterprise Ireland.
“The new Market Discovery Fund, along with our intensive international programme of export focused trade missions, and our recently introduced Agile Innovation Fund, are key supports which will be instrumental to helping even more companies grow and reach new export markets. The new Fund, further underpins our goal of increasing exports by €5bn by 2020.”
19,332 new jobs were created by companies supported by Enterprise Ireland in 2017. 209,388 people are now employed in companies supported by the agency. This is the highest total employment achieved in the history of the agency, according to the Enterprise Ireland announcement.
Enterprise and Innovation Minister Heather Humphreys said that the results were consistent with the strong employment performance across the economy.
“I am very pleased to see this strong level of job creation delivered for Limerick by Enterprise Ireland backed companies.
“The priority of my Department, through Enterprise Ireland is to support companies in Limerick and right across the country to continue to build on this strong job creation performance. Whatever the outcome of the complex Brexit negotiations that lie ahead, it is vital that as a country we are ready and the Government continues to take initiatives to bolster the capacity of our enterprise agencies to drive exports and support investment,” she concluded.
