Good morning everyone.

I'm delighted to be back in Cork today for a number of very positive events for the city, including this expansion announcement by Westbourne involving 51 new jobs.

2014 is going to be a good year for the city as the economy begins to recover. It has already started well with significant jobs and investment announcements in the city and region. A thriving Cork will be good for all local businesses and will help create new jobs.

The Government was also delighted in Budget 2014 to advance capital funding to Cork City Council to build a 6,000 person multi purpose event centre in Cork City Centre.

When it is finished it will make Cork more attractive for hosting large business conferences and entertainment events which should also provide a good boost for local businesses.

Economic Progress
Of course it has been a difficult few years for Cork along with the rest of the country.

But thanks to the sacrifice, understanding and determination of the Irish people the country successfully exited our international bailout last month.

After years of a shrinking economy, skyrocketing unemployment and an exploding deficit we managed to stabilise the economy and begin to turn things around.

Today the economy is growing and we have seen over 58,000 new jobs created in the past year.

As the first country inside the Euro area to successfully emerge from an EU/IMF bailout, it is a significant vote of international confidence in Ireland and an important milestone.

But while the country has returned to the private debt markets we still have a major challenge to bring the public finances under control to ensure that Ireland remains a highly competitive and stable location for investment and jobs.

As a Government we plan to safeguard this progress by ensuring we put the country back on a self financing basis. We will reduce the deficit to under 3% of GDP by 2015 and plan to eliminate it altogether by 2018.

This is a major part of our plan to make Ireland the best small country in the world for business.

Westbourne
But none of the progress would have been possible if it wasn't for innovative companies like Westbourne.

You are on the frontline of Ireland's recovery.

It is small Irish companies taking on the world that is bringing this country back.

Westbourne is a model for others to replicate.

Ireland is small country in a big global market. Our small businesses need to look beyond the local market and seek out new opportunities in Europe and beyond.

It is fantastic to see how, in a short period of time, Westbourne has launched a new division and delivered new jobs, on the back of winning international customers.

Getting Irish businesses to expand into export markets is a key part of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs and has been the constant focus of Government trade trips in the past three years.

Enterprise Ireland is at the forefront of this effort and I understand they have worked closely with the talented team here at Westbourne IT in developing their business, and supporting their initial exploration of export markets.

The Government is currently finalising the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs, which sets out our support for firms like yours. We will continue, through that process, to build on the success of the actions we have taken over the last two years.

In 2013, State-supported Irish companies created over 18,000 new jobs. This resulted in a net increase of over 5,400 in the number of people employed by Irish-owned companies; the highest net gain for Irish companies in the last decade. Indicators suggest that this was primarily due to the strong export performance of those companies.

This continuation of job growth demonstrates the direct impact that increasing exports can have on Ireland.

I wish to congratulate the management team and all the staff of Westbourne IT on the level of success it has achieved to date, and I wish them continued success in their new offices in Blackpool.

ENDS

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