Waterford’s ‘rich talent pool’, its ‘amazing’ IDA Regional Director and pro-active City & County Council were all cited on Monday morning as the American-headquartered Bluefin Payment Systems opened its new facility at the Cleaboy Business Park.
The words of Bluefin Chief Executive John Perry came as the perfect precursor to the launch of the Government’s South East Action Plan for Jobs, which has set out the ambitious delivery of 25,000 jobs “over the coming years”.
Speaking to The Munster Express, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said the €250 million jobs strategy, which aims to deliver 10 to 15 per cent employment growth across the region, said he hopes the plan’s “immediate actions” will be realised over the next 18 months.
“The idea is that this will be a rolling programme, just like the jobs plan nationally. I believe this is an area we haven’t tapped in the past; we haven’t had real regional enterprise strategies and this is the first time we’re doing that.”
The Action Plan was launched at Eishtec on a morning when the Waterford-based firm announced the creation of 200 new jobs in a custom built centre in Clonmel, which are expected to be delivered inside the next six months.
