Yesterday's announcement of 800 jobs for Blanchardstown in Dublin and Monday's news of 300 jobs in Cork are very welcome. They follow an almost weekly diet of bad news on the jobs front over the summer, most recently the closure of 3Com's plant in Dublin with the loss of 640 jobs and Schneider's decision to close its plant in Celbridge which employed 315.
The bonus for Dublin is that eBay and its PayPal subsidiary are exactly the sort of businesses that the Government wants to attract to Ireland. A survivor of the blood-letting that followed the bursting of the Internet bubble, eBay is creating technology-based service jobs. It is this type of employment that the Government predicts will replace the lower value manufacturing work that is effectively being exported as the likes of 3Com and Schneider move to lower cost locations.
As such the eBay announcement is a much needed fillip at a time when concerns over the competitiveness of Ireland as a location for mobile investment are centre stage. As the Tánaiste was quick to point out, the jobs confirm that Ireland is "a leading location for the digital media industry".
It is disconcerting then to realise that eBay came to Ireland almost in spite of the efforts of the Government and the IDA. As reported in this paper last July the Government's insistence that it would only support an investment by eBay outside Dublin almost led to the project being lost to another European state.
After reviewing the project the company subsequently decided to go ahead with the investment in Dublin, with some limited support being offered by the IDA.
While economically desirable, the Government's policy of pushing investment into the regions is both risky and set to fail in the current economic climate. No multinational is going to let itself be talked into locating in a sub-optimal location by the IDA while the agency is predicting that job losses in the sector might top 15,000 this year. And as long as the infrastructure in the regional locations continues to lag behind Dublin, companies will opt for the capital, or else another country entirely.
The deck is currently stacked against the Government in this particular game of poker. The decision to support the eBay project in Blanchardstown indicates it has folded its hand for the time being.
It is a pragmatic decision, and probably the right one, but indicates the regions may have to wait for the economic upturn before seeing any substantial new job projects. In a time of economic difficulty jobs are welcome at any location in the State.