Was Navan overlooked for PayPal's 1,000-job project?

The IDA came under fire at a meeting of Meath County Council this week, following a reported decision by the US global e-commerce company company, PayPal, not to locate in Navan. One councillor said the PayPal decision raised serious questions about the IDA's commitment to Meath and Navan, in particular. "Had PayPal come to Navan and created those 1,000 jobs in the vacant Quinn building, it would have been the biggest economic injection in this county since the opening of Tara Mines," said Fianna Fail councillor Shane Cassells. The company is now said to be looking at Dundalk or Limerick for a new base. "Instead, they have passed us by - and passed us by they have. What are our TDs - especially the two located in this town who spoke so eloquently of job creation last February - doing? Did they even know PayPal was looking at Navan as a base to create 1,000 jobs?" he said. It was reported in national media last week that PayPal had considered locating in the former Quinn building at Johnstown but had rejected it because of what was termed the absence of a large skilled workforce and Navan's proximity to Blanchardstown, where its parent company, eBay, already employs 1,600 people. However, a spokesperson for PayPal said the company "does not comment on rumour or speculation". Cllr Cassells said on Monday he had obtained statistics which showed the IDA organised only 16 company visits to Meath between 2006 and 2010 and 10 of these were in 2006. "There were none at all in 2007 or 2010. "It is clear from these statistics that the IDA is now focused on the gateways only," he said. Cllr Cassells asked officials to outline the specific steps that had been taken since the launch of the council's new jobs plan, and where the six figure sum allocated had been invested in a drive to create jobs. In a report to the meeting, council director of services, Kevin Stewart, said no contact had been made by PayPal or anyone acting on its behalf with either the council or Meath County Enterprise Board. "The availability of a skilled workforce in the county has been confirmed in numerous studies and initiatives over the past few years, including the Meath Education and Training Audit and the Work in Meath initiative," said Mr Stewart. He said the council was always available to meet with any major company seeking to set up in the region and had been successful in creating the environment and providing the supports that had attracted prestigious financial companies such as Generali to expand its operation in Navan. More recently, a financial division of Coca-Cola created 600 jobs in the Southgate Centre near Drogheda. He pointed out that the CEO of Generali PanEurope, Paul Gillett, had confirmed the availability of key skills, including languages, was a major factor in the company's decision to locate in Navan. Mr Stewart said the economic activity plan for Meath focused this year on tourism, and specifically the Solheim Cup, and an economic development officer had been appointed, in partnership with Navan Enterprise Centre Company, who is researching new development opportunities for the county. He said a review of the development contributions scheme was underway and initiatives to encourge the use of vacant retails space was being developed, Mr Stewart said the 'Make It Meath' marketing campaign would be relaunched in 2012 and there would also be a new dynamic tourism campaign next year. An initiative to assist small businesses to tender and compete for local authority contracts also was being developed. On the issue of the jobs strategy announced by the county council last June, Cllr Cassells took Meath County Manager Tom Dowling to task on his promise that he would have a jobs plan for the county outlined within four weeks of that meeting. "It is hugely disappointing that did not happen, especially considering the fact that the manager said 'Meath could not wait, has never waited and we will not wait'. That was six months ago," said Cllr Cassells. "When I look at the news on Friday night and see the granting by Westmeath County Council for a scheme which will generate 3,000 jobs through their work with government, private investors and the relevant Chamber of Commerce, the potential for major schemes still exists out there," he added. He welcomed the council's work in dealing with small businesses in this county and said the positive words from the head of Generali showed that the potential in Navan and in Meath is there to be tapped.