The issue of job creation is a day-to-day operational issue for the enterprise development agencies of my Department and not one in which I have a direct function. IDA Ireland is the agency statutorily charged with the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and its regions. IDA is actively promoting County Cavan on an ongoing basis through their network of overseas offices as a potential location for overseas investment. Ultimately however it is the investor who decides the location including what locations they want to visit. In an effort to enhance the attraction of County Cavan to overseas investors IDA has recently invested €1 million in upgrading its 16.5 hectare business park in Cavan to flagship standard which has greatly enhanced its attractiveness for new inward investment. The work involved the extension of internal roads, services and extensive landscaping. Planning permission has been received from Cavan County Council for two 2,500 square metre advanced technology units and construction of the first of these buildings will commence after a project has been secured for the former Teradyne premises, which IDA is actively marketing to overseas investors at present.
Despite the global economic downturn, the level of foreign direct investment in Ireland, relative to the size of the economy, remains one of the highest in the world. Ireland today competes with many other countries for new projects and, indeed, the relative attractiveness of one regional location in Ireland to another is often the decider for a company as to where it will locate. The designation of Cavan town as a hub under the Government's national spatial strategy confers on it a strategic position in the overall development plans for Ireland that further enhances the attractiveness of the county as a potential location for overseas investment. Cavan town, along with Dundalk, Monaghan and Drogheda, is one of the four towns of emphasis in the north east region for the IDA and is being strongly marketed for new investment.
In relation to indigenous industry, Enterprise Ireland provides preferential funding for companies, with detailed export plans, which are expanding or establishing a business in the county as part of the BMW region. In 2003 Enterprise Ireland is putting in place a range of new initiatives geared towards clients developing export markets for the first time in market mentors, training workshops, and market visits. Enterprise Ireland has focused on building and construction materials as a targeted sector for County Cavan and is endeavouring to build on the existing cluster of companies in the county. In addition an €88 million investment by Abbott Laboratories, the Chicago based health care company, to expand its nutritional manufacturing plant at Cootehill, County Cavan, was supported by Enterprise Ireland and will lead to the creation of 100 new jobs over the next three years. The latest available figures from Enterprise Ireland show approvals totalling €4,524,914 in funding to client companies in County Cavan in 2002, in addition to €479,987 in 2003 – to 26 September. Total payments amounted to €733,257 in 2002 and €229,749 in 2003 to 26 September 2003.