IDA stats

Max Powers

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0130/ida.pdf

IDA Stats showing the south east and Waterford fairing the worst out of all the regions

CardBordWindow

Max Powers wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0130/ida.pdf

IDA Stats showing the south east and Waterford fairing the worst out of all the regions

And that's only for companies involved with the IDA!

KevIRL

800 head Sky Call Centre going to Dublin another massive kick in the teeth for Waterford. It was exactly the type of thing we needed - an in house centre.

batm!ke

KevIRL wrote: »

800 head Sky Call Centre going to Dublin another massive kick in the teeth for Waterford. It was exactly the type of thing we needed - an in house centre.

Agreed. The first thing I thought when this was announced was where was our bid for it? How could we not have gotten something like this? Gutting.

hardybuck

Max Powers wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0130/ida.pdf

IDA Stats showing the south east and Waterford fairing the worst out of all the regions

The stats also show that Waterford has one of the largest amounts of jobs and companies which are supported by the IDA.

Psychedelic

hardybuck wrote: »

The stats also show that Waterford has one of the largest amounts of jobs and companies which are supported by the IDA.

How many new companies and jobs has the IDA got for Waterford since 2005? I can't even remember the last time the IDA made an announcement of a new company setting up here.

hardybuck

Psychedelic wrote: »

How many new companies and jobs has the IDA got for Waterford since 2005? I can't even remember the last time the IDA made an announcement of a new company setting up here.

According to the figures 852 new jobs since 2007, while the number of companies they support went down by two. I suppose companies like Genzyme were a huge coup, but ones like these are hard to come by.

On the downside 2438 existing jobs went in the same period. You're looking at the likes of WWRD, Teva, Talk Talk etc.

No idea of what went on before 2007. Interesting figures though, look at the likes of Wexford up the road which has a bigger population than Waterford, and has a steady level which is nearly half what Waterford has. Kilkenny has about 90% less IDA jobs than Waterford.

Obviously Waterford has relied on manufacturing going back a long time, while the likes of Wexford and Kilkenny have had a lot of agriculture. Perhaps Waterford need more of a move in this direction, as it is one of the few growth sectors in our economy.

Musicman2000

KevIRL wrote: »

800 head Sky Call Centre going to Dublin another massive kick in the teeth for Waterford. It was exactly the type of thing we needed - an in house centre.

Just heard that now as well, Would have being great for Waterford.

Psychedelic

@hardybuck, what I was getting at is that the IDA may be supporting the creation of new jobs in existing Waterford companies, and credit to them for that, but no new companies. The last announcement I remember was around 2006/07 when a company called Servier was to set up a purpose built site at Belview and bring a couple of hundred jobs. That seems to have gone off the radar though.

Good point about agri businesses, this seems to be taking off in Waterford too, in Dunhill especially. Tourism/culture sector as well.

hardybuck

Psychedelic wrote: »

@hardybuck, what I was getting at is that the IDA may be supporting the creation of new jobs in existing Waterford companies, and credit to them for that, but no new companies. The last announcement I remember was around 2006/07 when a company called Servier was to set up a purpose built site at Belview and bring a couple of hundred jobs. That seems to have gone off the radar though.

Good point about agri businesses, this seems to be taking off in Waterford too, in Dunhill especially. Tourism/culture sector as well.

Sure, but the number of companies is more or less the same as it was in 2007 - 2 less. In nearly every other county the results are similar - a mostly steady level of companies being supported, it would be unfair to say Waterford has received a raw deal on the basis of the figures supplied.

BBM77

hardybuck wrote: »

...unfair to say Waterford has received a raw deal on the basis of the figures supplied.

How anybody can say this is beyond me. Given Waterford’s population, the size of area it serves as an employment centre, the fact that one new company of significance has set up here in recent memory, Waterford’s infrastructure is as good if not better as anywhere else in the country and that our unemployment rate is 4% higher than the national average. Not to mention the fact that we have lost around two thousand jobs in the last couple of years.

I don’t think it is unreasonable to say that we are overdue a new company (or two) setting up in Waterford and creating in the order of one thousand jobs (each) by about twenty years.

hardybuck

Ballybrickenman wrote: »

How anybody can say this is beyond me. Given Waterford’s population, the size of area it serves as an employment centre, the fact that one new company of significance has set up here in recent memory, Waterford’s infrastructure is as good if not better as anywhere else in the country and that our unemployment rate is 4% higher than the national average. Not to mention the fact that we have lost around two thousand jobs in the last couple of years.

I don’t think it is unreasonable to say that we are overdue a new company (or two) setting up in Waterford and creating in the order of one thousand jobs (each) by about twenty years.

I know everyone here will be biased, but I disagree. The figures are for Waterford county, which has a small population in a national context. Smaller than Wexford up the road which has 60% less IDA supported companies. Kilkenny have 90% less supported companies (only 3!). Carlow 7 and South Tipp 9 compared to 31 in Waterford.

Why does Waterford have to serve as an employment centre? Why should Waterford be entitled to jobs? Couldn't some of the above areas be trusted with the investment so their people could work in their own counties instead of commuting to Waterford or Dublin?The unemployment in Waterford is high because the people here got used to the idea that there would always be a factory for them to work in. Those days are gone.

Our infrastructure isn't fantastic - we have good roads, and a decent port, but no a tiny airport and a terrible rail service. If I'm a exec from the U.S coming over with a view to investing, chances are I couldn't be bothered driving for 2hrs after my 6 hour flight to Dublin or Shannon.

Waterford people have poor participation levels at third level, and many of those that do participate do so at a mediocre local institution - WIT.

I think Waterford needs to move away from this sense of entitlement. The numbers are there in black and white that the IDA investment in Waterford is massively ahead of every other county in the region, and the vast majority of other parts of the country.

Max Powers

hardybuck wrote: »

I know everyone here will be biased, but I disagree. The figures are for Waterford county, which has a small population in a national context. Smaller than Wexford up the road which has 60% less IDA supported companies. Kilkenny have 90% less supported companies (only 3!). Carlow 7 and South Tipp 9 compared to 31 in Waterford.

Why does Waterford have to serve as an employment centre? Why should Waterford be entitled to jobs? Couldn't some of the above areas be trusted with the investment so their people could work in their own counties instead of commuting to Waterford or Dublin?The unemployment in Waterford is high because the people here got used to the idea that there would always be a factory for them to work in. Those days are gone.

Our infastructure isn't fantastic - we have good roads, and a decent port, but no a tiny airport and a terrible rail service. If I'm a exec from the U.S coming over with a view to investing, chances are I couldn't be bothered driving for 2hrs after my 6 hour flight to Dublin or Shannon.

Waterford people have poor participation levels at third level, and many of those that do participate do so at a mediocre local institution - WIT.

I think Waterford needs to move away from this sense of entitlement. The numbers are there in black and white that the IDA investment in Waterford is massively ahead of every other county in the region, and the vast majority of other parts of the country.

First off, IDA supported companies..the recent jobs annonucement was from a company already in existence and the new 200 jobs came from gaining a contract, so the level of IDA support here is minimal.

Notice the IDA FDI visits doesnt appear on the stats, we simply arent on the radar for FDI visits. I remember seen stats on that years ago.
WHy is Waterford entitled to jobs, well we have several disadvanatges handed down to us by successive government; no Uni, little FDI visits, we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, a higher percentage than most involved in low paid works, low take up of Uni...and this all for what is meant to be the regional gateway and added to that you would think IDA would be priorotising an area with such problems.

IDA will say to you that they cant force companies to set up here but, they have to start promoting us

hardybuck

Max Powers wrote: »

First off, IDA supported companies..the recent jobs annonucement was from a company already in existence and the new 200 jobs came from gaining a contract, so the level of IDA support here is minimal.

Notice the IDA FDI visits doesnt appear on the stats, we simply arent on the radar for FDI visits. I remember seen stats on that years ago.
WHy is Waterford entitled to jobs, well we have several disadvanatges handed down to us by successive government; no Uni, little FDI visits, we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, a higher percentage than most involved in low paid works, low take up of Uni...and this all for what is meant to be the regional gateway and added to that you would think IDA would be priorotising an area with such problems.

IDA will say to you that they cant force companies to set up here but, they have to start promoting us

That still doesn't change the fact that Waterford still has exactly as many IDA supported companies than every other county in the region added together!

Do the people in other counties starve in the streets because the IDA didn't provide them with jobs?

Max Powers

hardybuck wrote: »

That still doesn't change the fact that Waterford still has exactly as many IDA supported companies than every other county in the region added together!

Do the people in other counties starve in the streets because the IDA didn't provide them with jobs?

I think you are viewing it a bit narrowly,My first point was..whats an IDA supported company..in Cork, galway etc I reckon its companies brought to the area but since the IDA is getting stick off Waterford people they are counting every phone call or whatever small help as IDA supported. In reality, I cant think of many IDA supported companies here since Genzyme. Maybe some company like Eirgen did get some support to gain those contracts in South Africa but lets face it, they done all the hard work where others are/were getting new start-ups brought to area.

In reality further, we lost 650 talk talk call centre jobs, they talked about doing their utmost to replace these jobs for the region (region, we are the biggest urban area in the region and as such employ large amounts of people from surrounding counties), paypal would have been ideal, Sky would have been ideal yet we basically didnt get a look in, doesnt strike me of honest effort on IDAs behalf for the region.

The councillors were due to meet reps from IDA including O'Leary, did anyone hear anything of what happened or did they roll over to have their bellys rubbed as per usual

BBM77

hardybuck wrote: »

I know everyone here will be biased, but I disagree. The figures are for Waterford county, which has a small population in a national context. Smaller than Wexford up the road which has 60% less IDA supported companies. Kilkenny have 90% less supported companies (only 3!). Carlow 7 and South Tipp 9 compared to 31 in Waterford.

Why does Waterford have to serve as an employment centre? Why should Waterford be entitled to jobs? Couldn't some of the above areas be trusted with the investment so their people could work in their own counties instead of commuting to Waterford or Dublin?The unemployment in Waterford is high because the people here got used to the idea that there would always be a factory for them to work in. Those days are gone.

Our infrastructure isn't fantastic - we have good roads, and a decent port, but no a tiny airport and a terrible rail service. If I'm a exec from the U.S coming over with a view to investing, chances are I couldn't be bothered driving for 2hrs after my 6 hour flight to Dublin or Shannon.

Waterford people have poor participation levels at third level, and many of those that do participate do so at a mediocre local institution - WIT.

I think Waterford needs to move away from this sense of entitlement. The numbers are there in black and white that the IDA investment in Waterford is massively ahead of every other county in the region, and the vast majority of other parts of the country.

The facts of this report speak for themselves. Comparing Waterford and Wexford is not a fair comparison, Wexford does not have a large population centre that has been designated a gateway city by government. Comparing like with like, again from this report, Galway in 2011 had 58 IDA companies and lost 169 jobs, Waterford had 31 and lost 764 jobs. So clearly this is a raw deal. Galway has no Shannon airport, comparable infrastructure, no regional airport now, is further away from Dublin and a region with a smaller population.

Why should Galway be entitled to be a jobs centre, could some of the companies not have been set up in Mayo or set up in Dublin or Shannon instead of executives having to drive to Galway?

You are right that the unemployment is high in Waterford for factors other than IDA investment. For example we never really developed our tourism and retail industries to the extent we should have.

And frankly what Waterford needs is to have a greater sense of entitlement, we are entitled to have anything any other city has and stop excepting the second class solutions to our problems from government, like the technical university to solve our of poor third level participation problem.

O Riain

hardybuck wrote: »

That still doesn't change the fact that Waterford still has exactly as many IDA supported companies than every other county in the region added together!

Do the people in other counties starve in the streets because the IDA didn't provide them with jobs?

Waterford is the hub of the south east, all the roads in the south east from south tipp, to kilkenny, to wexford to carlow, lead here. Do you honestly think everyone working in the IDA supported companies are all from Waterford? Its the most centrally located part of the south-east and the easiest to access as all the public transport systems in the south-east go to waterford.
It was laid out in the action plan for the south east that the size of other towns is weakening Waterford Citys strength as a gateway city which is in turn causing the whole region to suffer. As for WIT being a mediocre institution, it might not be a UNI but it is the best I.T. in the country.
Our infastructure is as good as would expect for the size of the city but an improved limerick road would probably benefit the city.

Are you from Waterford you seem to hate the place.

hardybuck

Ballybrickenman wrote: »

The facts of this report speak for themselves. Comparing Waterford and Wexford is not a fair comparison, Wexford does not have a large population centre that has been designated a gateway city by government. Comparing like with like, again from this report, Galway in 2011 had 58 IDA companies and lost 169 jobs, Waterford had 31 and lost 764 jobs. So clearly this is a raw deal. Galway has no Shannon airport, comparable infrastructure, no regional airport now, is further away from Dublin and a region with a smaller population.

Why should Galway be entitled to be a jobs centre, could some of the companies not have been set up in Mayo or set up in Dublin or Shannon instead of executives having to drive to Galway?

You are right that the unemployment is high in Waterford for factors other than IDA investment. For example we never really developed our tourism and retail industries to the extent we should have.

And frankly what Waterford needs is to have a greater sense of entitlement, we are entitled to have anything any other city has and stop excepting the second class solutions to our problems from government, like the technical university to solve our of poor third level participation problem.

First off, Wexford has a bigger population than Waterford. Just because it is more spread out doesn't mean that the companies couldn't be spread out in a similar fashion. If I was from Wexford I would be wondering why a smaller county had such a disproportionate amount of funding.

Secondly Galway is an hour away from a transatlantic airport. We are not. Galway is also a far bigger county in size and population than Waterford. Their city is the provincial capital for Connaught in the same way as Cork is for Munster. They have an NUI University which was founded in 1845 as apposed to an RTC, which became an IT, and was put together in the 1970's.

On WIT - regardless of what name you slap on it, it will still be a mediocre institution. A name change isn't going to solve any problems.

Lastly, job creation will be generated by entrepreneurs a whole lot quicker than by politicans. Time that Waterford stopped whinging and started to examine what it can do for itself.

hardybuck

O Riain wrote: »

Waterford is the hub of the south east, all the roads in the south east from south tipp, to kilkenny, to wexford to carlow, lead here. Do you honestly think everyone working in the IDA supported companies are all from Waterford? Its the most centrally located part of the south-east and the easiest to access as all the public transport systems in the south-east go to waterford.
It was laid out in the action plan for the south east that the size of other towns is weakening Waterford Citys strength as a gateway city which is in turn causing the whole region to suffer. As for WIT being a mediocre institution, it might not be a UNI but it is the best I.T. in the country.
Our infastructure is as good as would expect for the size of the city but an improved limerick road would probably benefit the city.

Are you from Waterford you seem to hate the place.

There is no denying that all roads lead to Waterford and all that jazz, but I'm merely pointing out the facts. We receive massively more support than all the others, and most other parts of the country.

I don't like the attitude that it the Government's fault that Waterford isn't a huge industrial engine, or it is the Governments role to provide me with work.

I grew up in Waterford and have a lot of time for the place, but accepted that the city offered limited options, and took my skills elsewhere. I'm always defending it to friends and colleagues. Only yesterday I had to challenge a colleague who didn't realise it was a city and not a large town, but in reality there really isn't a whole lot seperating Waterford and other large towns around the country at this point.

dayshah

hardybuck wrote: »

Why does Waterford have to serve as an employment centre? Why should Waterford be entitled to jobs? Couldn't some of the above areas be trusted with the investment so their people could work in their own counties instead of commuting to Waterford or Dublin?The unemployment in Waterford is high because the people here got used to the idea that there would always be a factory for them to work in. Those days are gone.

Complete nonsense. Half the natural hinterland for working in Waterford City is in Waterford, the other half is South Kilkenny and South Wexford. To get an accurate reflection of unemployment you have to include the hinterland.

Waterford already has the infrastructure for large units. Only very small scale enterprises can be supported in semi-rural locations in Wexford or Kilkenny, and neither Kilkenny City nor any towns in Wexford can offer the economies of scope that Waterford does.

That's why people in south Kilkenny are happy when there are new jobs in Waterford City, its easy for them to commute here rather than relocate.

BBM77

hardybuck wrote: »

First off, Wexford has a bigger population than Waterford. Just because it is more spread out doesn't mean that the companies couldn't be spread out in a similar fashion. If I was from Wexford I would be wondering why a smaller county had such a disproportionate amount of funding.

Secondly Galway is an hour away from a transatlantic airport. We are not. Galway is also a far bigger county in size and population than Waterford. Their city is the provincial capital for Connaught in the same way as Cork is for Munster. They have an NUI University which was founded in 1845 as apposed to an RTC, which became an IT, and was put together in the 1970's.

On WIT - regardless of what name you slap on it, it will still be a mediocre institution. A name change isn't going to solve any problems.

Lastly, job creation will be generated by entrepreneurs a whole lot quicker than by politicans. Time that Waterford stopped whinging and started to examine what it can do for itself.

You are not making any sense. You are alluding to scale in Galway city but you are saying scale should not be a factor in Waterford city even thought it has been seen to work in Galway. Spreading things out around the region is exactly what is happening in the south east now and the reason why we lag behind the other regions. We can all see what is happening with the WIT upgrading. Spread things around and continue with the same old parish pump bulls*&t that we always had to put up with, instead of living in the real world and seeing how allowing a city to develop its critical mass leads to growth for EVERYONE in the region. Just like Galway and the west grew and over took Waterford.

O Riain

hardybuck wrote: »

There is no denying that all roads lead to Waterford and all that jazz, but I'm merely pointing out the facts. We receive massively more support than all the others, and most other parts of the country.

I don't like the attitude that it the Government's fault that Waterford isn't a huge industrial engine, or it is the Governments role to provide me with work.

I grew up in Waterford and have a lot of time for the place, but accepted that the city offered limited options, and took my skills elsewhere. I'm always defending it to friends and colleagues. Only yesterday I had to challenge a colleague who didn't realise it was a city and not a large town, but in reality there really isn't a whole lot seperating Waterford and other large towns around the country at this point.

Size of waterford is irrelevant, we serve a region, not our own county. Secondly you say we should give up this sense of entitlement and start doing things for ourselves. Do you think the people of Galway join up every week and start visiting companies all over the globe to attract them to their city? This is the IDA's and subsequently the Governments job to do this. They provide the jobs and we work in them. Its the way it works in every city all over the world. As for us having a mediocre institution, is this the people of waterfords fault? The same people who for the last 30 years have been crying out for a level playing field when it comes to education. You say we should do things ourselves but what can we do? We cant build our own Uni and we cant as a people go around looking for businesses to set up here. Maybe if we were treated fairly we would have enough money and education to start up our companies but we are not and even still we would need foreign companies setting up here.

coolperson05

Unfortunately, the term "gateway" city doesn't really apply anymore. In Ireland today, it's Dublin or Cork now.

The other cities are all all struggling. Limerick and Waterford most so. Our difference to Galway is simply our surrounding neighbours. With Carlow, Kilkenny, Clonmel and Wexford all major population centres all within an hours drive...they're all vowing for 'capital' of the south-east, the newest jobs, the best education, the newest shops. This is because we're on the east coast and have a high population clusters. On the west - they only have Limerick and Galway really as major population centres. Development has to be spread out here due to geography and it'll never compete with the other cities...Also, we're the closest to Dublin and therefore suffering drain there too!