Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014
272. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA Ireland site visits to County Carlow in the past three years; and his views on whether it is satisfactory to meet the needs of the county. [6772/14]
View answerI am informed by IDA Ireland that in the past 3 years there has been a total of 7 IDA sponsored site visits by potential investors to County Carlow. Detail of the number of site visits conducted in each of the 3 years 2011 to 2013 is set out on the attached tabular statement.
There are many complex factors influencing investor location decision-making such as the increasing preference of investors globally for cities of scale with 1 million plus population, significant challenges from lower cost locations in the UK and Eastern Europe and attractive regional aid.
Carlow has traditionally been a centre of manufacturing with a strong engineering tradition in both the indigenous and overseas sectors. In marketing Carlow for new foreign direct investment, IDA Ireland is focused on attracting overseas companies in the life sciences, services and knowledge based industries (including advanced manufacturing). IDA Ireland works closely with third level educational institutions in the region so that the skill-sets necessary to attract high value added employment to the county are being developed.
At the end of 2013, there were 7 IDA Ireland supported companies in Co. Carlow employing 735 people. IDA Ireland has strong relationships with all these companies and works closely with them to ensure their long term sustainability and to encourage their growth, development and continuing re-investment in their sites. The primary opportunity for regional locations is in respect of the existing client base and potential further investment opportunities from same. Approximately 70% of all FDI investments won by IDA Ireland is from the existing client base.
I am, of course, concerned at the lack of investment in certain regional locations and I have, accordingly, requested IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to work with my Department so that we can explore what further initiatives we can take to ensure we have a better approach to enterprise development in regional locations. This exercise will complement the in-depth analysis of our FDI strategy which is currently being undertaken by Forfás and which will take account of factors such as key trends emerging in FDI best practice internationally, Ireland’s strengths in attracting FDI and any changes to the EU’s State Aid Rules, which will come into effect on 1 July 2014. The results of these two exercises will form the basis of IDA Ireland’s strategy from 2015 onwards.
Table showing the number of IDA sponsored site visits in County Carlow in each of the years 2011 to 2013, inclusive.
|
County |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Carlow |
2 |
4 |
1 |
