Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 September 2016
1866. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of visits the IDA has made to counties Cavan and Monaghan in 2016, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24418/16]
View answerIDA Ireland markets Cavan and Monaghan as part of its North East Region along with Louth. To date in 2016, there have been 12 site visits to the region, one of which was to Cavan, one to Monaghan and the remainder to Louth. In 2015 there were 22 site visits to the area, with 2 to Monaghan and the remainder to Louth. It must be borne in mind that site visit numbers are not an accurate reflection of all foreign direct investment (FDI) activity, especially as approximately 70% of all new FDI comes from existing IDA Ireland client companies.
There are 33 multinational companies based in the North East, employing 4,556 people across the region. Of these jobs 1165 are based in Cavan, 146 in Monaghan with the remainder in Louth. IDA Ireland positions the North East as having strong clusters in international business services and manufacturing, given the presence there of companies like National Pen, Liberty Mutual, Becton Dickinson and Wellman. These international brands serve as an attraction to other companies potentially seeking to locate to the North East.
IDA Ireland is committed to the Action Plan for Jobs, as published in 2015, which includes a number of targets specific to the North East Region, including:
- Achieving an increase of at least 25% in the number of start-ups, and a 25% improvement in the survival rate of new businesses.
- Increasing the number of IDA investments there by 30-40% up to 2019. This would result in a minimum of 61 additional projects for the North East/North West region by 2019.
- Developing a value proposition for the North East/North West aimed at securing potential “second site” investments from companies with large scale existing operations in Dublin.
