Employment

Geoscience Ireland targets 150 jobs in 2016

By Business & Finance
01 February 2016
Glendalough

The 24 member companies of Geoscience Ireland have created 42 new jobs between them since mid-2015 according to its twice-yearly survey of its members.

Geoscience Ireland was established by the Geological Survey of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in 2012 to support Irish companies in winning work in international markets for mineral exploration, mining, infrastructure development, water services and capacity building.

Between them, the 26 companies employ over 1,600 people and collective turnover exceeds €300m per annum.

Tunnelling and drilling contractors reported the strongest growth, with many engineering and environmental consultancies also reporting increased numbers.

These figures bring to almost 300 the number of net new jobs created by Geoscience Ireland member companies since September 2012.

The network of Geoscience Ireland companies have agreed a target of a further 150 new jobs by 2017.

Joe McHugh TD, Minster for Natural Resources, said: “The member companies of Geoscience Ireland continue to surpass their job creation targets, providing well paid and sustainable jobs for designers, surveyors, scientists, engineers and highly skilled trades across a range of sectors. The Geoscience Ireland initiative is an excellent example of cooperation between a number of state agencies and departments, the private sector and applied research. The creation of an integrated Geoscience Enterprise and Innovation Hub is now a realistic concept which my Department will continue to support and foster.”

The job creation by Geoscience Ireland companies has a strong regional footprint, as over 40% of Geoscience Ireland members are based outside Dublin. The network now totals 26 companies, has added two new companies in January, bringing the total number employed to over 1,600.

Photo: Giuseppe Milo