Page 94 - ANNUAL REPORT 2016

was an extension of the scheme to all parts of the county. This was approved
by full council in early 2016 and went live, attracting significant interest from
property owners. The scheme provides a grant payment, in line with rates paid
and capital improvement works carried out on the premises of the order of
75% in Year 1, 50% in Year 2 and 25% in Year 3.

The first full year expansion of the scheme saw a 150% increase in the number
of complete applications, with a further 44 enquiries in process. Applications
cover a range of businesses from retail and manufacturing through to
professional services sectors.

southeast eures Jobs fair 2016

In 2015, the Economic and Enterprise Development SPC targeted a number of actions to support
employment (employers and jobseekers) in the county. One of these actions targeted working with
the Department of Social Protection to bring a European Employment Services (EURES) regional jobs
fair event to the county. EURES Jobs Fair events are held throughout the country on a regional basis
and bring together large numbers of jobseekers and vacancies across the region.

On Tuesday 15th March 2016 the Department of
Social Protection and EURES hosted a successful
National and European Jobs Fair in Wexford
County Council offices, Carricklawn from
10.00am to 4.00pm attended by in excess of
3,500 jobseekers. Over 30 Irish employers were
advertising 500 vacancies on the day, along with
a further 300 nursing jobs online.

Irish companies attending on the day included Bank New York Mellon, Datapac, Innovate Business
Technology Ltd., Danone, Zurich Insurance plc, Eishtec, Advance Cleaners, David Walsh Civil
Engineering, Masadavia Ltd., Translation.ie, Home Instead Senior Care, Balfour Beatty Construction,
PhoneWatch, Clayton Whites Hotel, Talbot Hotel, Ferrycarrig Hotel, Sonru Limited, Bluebird Care,
Chapz Male Barbers, Slaney Foods International, Irish Country Meats, The Taxback Group, Engage
Educate Ireland and AA Euro Recruitment Group among others.

EURES is a European-wide initiative that has been in place since 1993 and assists jobseekers take up
employment within the EU. It is a network of all the public employment services in the European
Union and the European Economic Area.

Wexford, ireland and savannah, Georgia

In early 2016, official invitations were received from offices in Atlanta and Savannah to attend parades
and civic/cultural events in both cities during March 2016. The invitations were issued on foot of
work being carried out by Minister Paul Kehoe on building relations with the southern state and also
building on heritage and education links with Georgia Southern University and the Wexford Savannah

92
www.wexfordcoco.ie www.twitter.com/wexfordcoco