Recruiters have welcomed an Irish government announcement for support to create 28k jobs in the North of the country, saying it will help bring overseas Irish workers home. 

Irish minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation Richard Bruton this week announced the action plan for jobs, which is expected to grow employment by up to 15%, part of a wider €250m (£177m) strategy that was initiated in 2012.

The plan is particularly targeting the counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.

Niall Toland, business director in Hays’ Galway office, told Recruiter the counties mentioned were significantly hit in the economic downturn and it was especially encouraging the government funding did not focus on the bigger cities like Dublin.

A government statement says 31.6k jobs were lost in the region between 2008 and 2011, and while 20k have already been regained, it wants to boost employment above previous levels. 

Key sectors targeted as part of the plan include traditionally strong sectors for the region like agri-food, manufacturing/engineering and tourism, as well as areas targeted for future growth like digital payments, cleantech and creative services.

Toland added trying to source the people to fill the new roles may be a challenge because over the last seven to eight years, a “huge number” of people had moved to the UK, Canada, the Middle East, Europe and Australia to find work.

Hays would be running campaigns to tell its international candidates “that there are jobs in Ireland and salaries are starting to increase… and not just in the bigger cities”.

Trayc Keevans, director of inward investment, Ireland for Morgan McKinley, tells Recruiter a lot of candidates who either moved abroad for work or moved to bigger centres like Dublin were keen to return to their hometowns and this government investment would give them the confidence to do so. 

“But through our network of international offices, we’re are seeing a lot of them registering to come back.

“And when they do make that decision to come back, they are more open as to where that will be. They are not fixed on it being an urban location, they are more willing to explore what opportunities exist across Ireland.”

However, she said investment in infrastructure, particularly the road network and broadband access was also needed to encourage companies to invest in the region.

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