An initiative aimed at getting 14,000 people into jobs in the Midlands is being launched today.

The announcement is the first of eight regional schemes in the pipeline.

Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton told Lunchtime host Jonathan Healy: “We’re launching our enterprise strategy for the midlands and target is to increase employment by 10-15%.

“That would come down to about 14,000 jobs if we’re successful," he added.

Listen to Mr Bruton's full interview on Lunchtime

The Midlands Action Plan for Jobs sets a target of up to 15 per cent employment growth over the coming years in Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath.

Key sectors involved include manufacturing, tourism, food and energy.

Some of the initiatives aimed at helping reach the target include a skills forum, a regional energy hub, new cycling and walking trails along local waterways and the establishment of a Midlands Manufacturing Technologies Campus.

The actions involved in the plan include:

• Establish a Midlands Manufacturing Technologies Campus.

• New cycling, walking and other recreational trails along the
waterways of the region.

• Establish a Skills Forum to connect education providers in the region
with the employers/industry in need of skilled workers.

• Develop a Regional Energy Hub for the Midlands.

• A series of actions to promote 25% more start-ups in the midlands.

• A series of actions aimed at attracting at least 25 additional
multinational investment projects to the region by 2019.

The government said in a statement this morning that the success of the programme " will depend on factors including the level of collaboration within the local community for the plan, and the level of collaboration between organisations in the region and the main government bodies involved in the plan."

The government will also look to support the growth of more than a thousand exporters that are already operating in the region, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses.

The Midlands Action Plan for Jobs will be launched by the Taoiseach and the Jobs Minister this afternoon.