Plea to save job creation scheme

Job creation body Connect Ireland has pleaded for the Government to extend its contract for attracting small business to Ireland after the IDA elected not to renew the scheme.

Launched in 2012, the Succeed in Ireland programme offered Irish citizens cash incentives if they introduced foreign business to Ireland. For every job created, the person who made the introduction would get €1,500.

The IDA has paid around €2m to Connect Ireland for incentive payments, with almost 530 jobs verified as created. Another 2,000 are in the pipeline, Connect Ireland says.