Strong jobs growth reported at Geoscience Ireland member companies

'Combined turnover in 2016 was €830m, and employment at the member companies now exceeds 3,400.' (stock image)

Gavin McLoughlin

Companies forming part of Geoscience Ireland created 226 net new jobs in the first six months of 2017.

The group comprises 33 companies working across areas including water, minerals and infrastructure development.

Members include mining-equipment maker Mincon, engineering business Arup, Lagan Asphalt, Roadstone and the Geological Survey of Ireland.

Combined turnover in 2016 was €830m, and employment at the member companies now exceeds 3,400. SMEs among the membership, up to 29 from five in 2012, had combined turnover of €245m last year and accounted for 177 of the new jobs.

Almost half of their turnover was generated overseas.

The group was set up in 2008 in order to foster collaboration between State organisations and private companies working in the sector, with the aim of helping Irish companies win big international projects.

A number of larger companies have been added to the membership in recent times - companies with more than 250 staff and/or turnover greater than €50m. "Such a combination of resources enhances the cluster as it now offers both small-company flexibility and large-company scale as part of an overall value chain, a deepened talent pool of niche technical skills, and a higher prospect of collaboration in terms of shared market intelligence, leveraging overseas networks and project bids," Geoscience Ireland said in a statement.

Natural Resources Minister Sean Kyne said more than 60pc of the new jobs created were outside Dublin.

"The priorities of Geoscience Ireland are to support job creation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics sector; sustain Irish companies which are embedded in the UK economy while also promoting diversification in other overseas markets as part of this Government's post-Brexit strategy; access export markets in a collaborative manner through a cluster dynamic; and deliver regional growth in Ireland," Kyne said.

"As Geoscience Ireland continues to grow in size and ambition, by way of attracting larger companies to the cluster and strengthening its linkages in their target markets, my department, along with Enterprise Ireland, will provide the means necessary for Irish companies to win business in overseas markets."