Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 September 2016
1879. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits that have taken place in County Sligo in 2015 and 2016 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25465/16]
View answer1880. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits that have taken place in County Leitrim in 2015 and in 2016 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25466/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1879 and 1880 together.
There were eight IDA Ireland-sponsored site visits to Leitrim in 2015 and 15 to Sligo. The number of site visits to the counties to the end of the second quarter 2016 was two and seven respectively.
It is worth noting that the number of site visits only gives a suggestion of the amount of foreign direct investment activity in a county. Approximately 70% of all new FDI comes from existing IDA Ireland client companies.
Since 2015, IDA Ireland has been working towards targets set out in their strategy “Winning - Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019”. For the first time, under this strategy, ambitious investment targets have been set on a regional basis whereby the Agency aims to increase the level of investment by between 30% to 40% in each region. The new strategy is already showing promise. The number of site visits to Leitrim in 2015 was four times that of 2014, when there were two visits to the county. The number of site visits in 2015 to Sligo was double that of 2014 when there were seven.
Site Visits to Leitrim and Sligo 2015 and to end Q2 2016
|
County |
2015 |
Cumulative to end Q2 16 |
|
Leitrim |
8 |
2 |
|
Sligo |
15 |
7 |
