JOB creation in IDA assisted industries in the west rose faster than the national average last year, according to the IDA's chief executive.
IDA results for 1996, to be announced tomorrow, show that criticism of the authority for "neglecting" the west is misplaced, said Mr Kieran McGowan.
Mr McGowan came to Galway on Friday for a ceremony to mark Thermo King's new research and design centre, which will add 20 jobs to the company's 1,000 workforce in Galway, Shannon and Dublin.
Developments such as this rarely hit the headlines but tell the true story of job creation in the west, he said. "Our results show net increases in employment in the west because the companies that are already here, like Thermo King, are expanding."
More than 800 jobs were created in IDA assisted companies in Galway last year. Just under 200 were lost, leaving a net increase of about 600 jobs, representing a growth in employment of 11 per cent, well above the national average of 8 per cent for 1996.
This growth partly reflects the push to create jobs following the Digital closure in 1993. More than 3,000 new jobs have been announced in Galway over the past four years and many are only now coming on stream.
In Mayo, there was a small drop in the numbers employed in industry last year. About 150 jobs were created and 190 lost, making a fall of 40 jobs in the overall figure of 2,900.
Roscommon has a small industrial base, with fewer than 1,000 people employed in IDA assisted industries. Against that small base, however, employment showed a dramatic rise of almost 30 per cent, with 250 new jobs created and only two lost.
Leitrim has the smallest industrial base with only about 400 people employed. Here there was a 6 per cent rise in job numbers. About 100 jobs were created in Sligo.
Donegal logged an 8 per cent decrease, leading to the loss of 300 jobs. This reflected difficulties at the five Fruit of the Loom factories.
Clare recorded 20 more jobs in the 11,000 workforce. This excludes those employed in companies assisted by SFADCo.
The results will interest the Western Development Partnership Board, which criticised the IDA recently for neglecting the west, saying job creation was becoming more focused on large urban centres.
According to Mr McGowan, this is unfair because it fails to take account of the unusual nature of the job scene in 1996, which was dominated by high profile announcements for large scale projects, such as the new IBM plant for Dublin.
"The locations outside Dublin have got as much as they normally get. It's just that almost all the increase has been in Dublin, because of the fact that these companies are technologically intensive companies and were not prepared to locate anywhere else," he said.
The IDA is limited in what it can do to attract a company, he said. "The company always chooses the location, not the IDA. We can only influence them to a certain extent. If they absolutely don't want to go anywhere other than to a major city, that is their decision. If we then say, `we don't want you to go to a major city' then they will go to another country."
The IDA's options are limited because it does not have a powerful "carrot" to entice companies west of the Shannon. An IDA grant is frequently less important than the 10 per cent tax rate for industry and the availability of a skilled workforce.
"We give a lower percentage for Dublin than for other places. But it's not the main event. It's also wrong to give someone a big juicy upfront grant to go somewhere where they themselves believe they won't be economically viable. That's short termism."
But the IDA would continue to try and spread new industry around the State. "In 1997 we are redoubling our efforts," he said.