Irish Business Against Litter sponsored the building of a 28,000 sq. ft. advance manufacturing facility in 1998. The facility is located at the IDA business park in Dungarvan, County Waterford. IDA Ireland is responsible for property marketing in this area. The facility was designed to offer a large open production or manufacturing floor of 25,000 sq. ft. and a smaller office area of 3,000 sq. ft.
The facility is being actively marketed by the IDA's south east regional office, along with its property division based in Athlone, to new and existing foreign direct investment companies. There have been a number of meetings this year between IDA Ireland and Waterford County Council, involving the Waterford County Enterprise Board, concerning the marketing of the building. Full details of the building are available to the staff of the IDA, including their overseas network, on the IDA's property database. The starting point of a potential itinerary is to agree on the regions, cities or towns that the company will visit. Suitable property based on the company's requirements is shown as part of the itinerary.
The climate for inward investment has changed significantly since the building was designed and completed in 1998. Foreign direct investors now tend to be advanced manufacturing companies in the pharmaceuticals and health care sectors, or services companies. The property requirements of these companies tend to favour purpose-built developments. However, the IBAL facility continues to feature on the itineraries of all suitable companies and it remains an important part of the IDA south east region's property portfolio to attract inward investment to Dungarvan. There have been five site visits to the facility since January 2000 and nine site visits to Dungarvan in total during this period. The most recent visit was in September 2002 when a shared services facility visited the site. I am confident that the measures being adopted by IDA Ireland, as well as the continuing commitment of the Government to regional development, will bring positive results to Dungarvan.