Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 February 2007
170 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will quantify the full extent of the expected return on investment in the digital hub; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5423/07]
View answerSince 2000, the State has invested close to €93.75 million in developing the Digital Hub. That sum comprises of an initial investment in property purchase of €73.64 million for circa 9 acres in the Thomas Street/Liberties area of Dublin. State of the art telecommunications infrastructure investment came to €2.29 million.
The remainder of the amount is made up of operational expenditure. The Agency received Exchequer assistance in order to meet its performance targets. Since 2000 the Agency has received €15.3 million from the State to cover operational costs. Total private sector investment in the Agency has amounted to EUR €3.4 million. Additional investment has been, and continues to be, undertaken by firms who choose to locate in the Hub. Exact details of those investments are not available. Estimates suggest that the Global Digital Media industry will be worth at least EUR €1.1 trillion by 2009, representing growth of more than 53% in the period.
Currently in Ireland there are between 400-500 companies operating in the digital media space, employing almost 3,500 people. In 2003 there were few foreign owned digital media companies in Ireland. Today 20% of the Digital Hub cluster of digital media companies are foreign owned. In terms of a return from an economic perspective, these figures are testament to the fact that the Digital Media industry offers huge potential for contributing to enterprise development and creating high value employment in Ireland.
With respect to a monetary return, €118 million was received for the acceptance of tenders for two separate sites in the Digital Hub area. In return for the land, the State will receive a combination of €72.4 million in cash and €45.7 million in high quality offices, which will accommodate digital enterprises as the Digital Hub grows. This represents a positive return to the State for its initial investment. This land is to be developed as a mixture of residential, commercial and retail properties, in addition to public spaces. The private developers competed on the basis of bids of cash plus office space. The break down of the tenders means that the Digital Hub will receive over 150,000 square foot of office space by 2012.
It is estimated that in order to accommodate the scaling of its learning, research and incubation activities, the Hub will require up to 250,000 square feet. The additional space will be derived from the development of the Agency's owned and retained properties.
