Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 December 2015
199. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will direct the Industrial Development Agency Ireland to designate County Kerry as a digital marketing initiative highlighting the specific positive attributes of the county, to attract inward investment similar to the investment in County Cork's recent successful initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43718/15]
View answerIDA Ireland markets Kerry as part of its South West region, along with Cork. There are 12 IDA Ireland client companies, employing 1,874 people in the county. Companies supported by IDA Ireland in Kerry added 361 additional new jobs between 2011–2014 compared to 502 job losses in the period 2008 – 2010. It should be noted that 70% of new IDA jobs come from existing client companies, not from new investments. As part of its efforts to market Ireland and its different business locations, IDA Ireland continues to explore marketing opportunities based on the key criteria used by companies to assess different locations. In relation to County Kerry, IDA Ireland is actively exploring the potential of different digital marketing initiatives. The agency is also keen to work in partnership with other stakeholders in the delivery of effective marketing of Kerry as a location for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In this regard, a number of stakeholders, not limited to IDA Ireland have an active role to play in making this happen.
Marketing of any regional area, including Kerry, for FDI is done through IDA Ireland’s network of overseas offices. IDA Ireland actively incentivises and encourages investors to consider a range of potential locations in Ireland although the ultimate locations selected are always decided by the companies themselves.
IDA Ireland launched its new five-year strategy entitled Winning – Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019 in April of this year. The strategy has a strong focus on regional development, setting forth aims and strategies to achieve a significant increase in investment going into regional locations. To support that aim, IDA Ireland is rolling out a €150million capital investment programme to help attract more multinational jobs into each region over a 5-year period. This programme will include investments over the coming years in building advanced technology buildings and office facilities in a number of regional locations to provide state-of-the-art property solutions for clients. Tralee is to be the site of one such advanced technology building.
Finally, a further boost to the county is the reinstatement of Regional Aid for Co. Kerry under the new Regional Aid Guidelines, which came into force on 1 July, 2014. The RAGs enable the State to grant State Aid, at enhanced rates, to businesses in order to support new investment and new employment in productive projects in Ireland's most disadvantaged regions. The funding for this comes from the Exchequer. This means that the full range of Regional Aid assistance options are available in Kerry.
