Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
319. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits by prospective clients by county in each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48090/18]
View answerI am focused on doing everything I can to deliver the fairest possible spread of foreign direct investment (FDI) across the country. Creating more jobs in the regions in particular is a clear priority for both my Department and the IDA.
Since 2015, IDA Ireland has been working towards regional development targets set out in their strategy for the period between 2015-2019. This includes a goal of increasing investment in every region of Ireland by 30%-40%. Real progress is being made towards that objective. In 2017, for example, 45% of all jobs created were based outside of Dublin. The Agency is working hard to increase that percentage further for 2018 and beyond.
IDA Ireland continues to highlight the benefits of expanding or locating in all counties of Ireland to its client base. It is important to remember, however, that the final decision as to where to invest always rests with the company concerned. It is also the case that site visit activity does not necessarily reflect investment potential, as almost 70% of all new FDI comes from existing IDA client companies.
The Government has taken a number of positive steps to increase FDI in the regions and the IDA’s Regional Property Programme is important in encouraging more FDI into regional locations. As part of Budget 2019, I was pleased to announce an allocation of €10m to the next phase of that Programme on top of the €150m that was announced when it was launched in 2015. Project Ireland 2040 names the Border and Midlands regions as priority areas for this Programme, and so the funding will be used to start building advanced facilities in a number of regional locations, including in Carlow, Dundalk, Monaghan, Sligo, Athlone, Waterford, Limerick and Galway.
The following table sets out the number of IDA Ireland site visits to each County from 2013 to 2017, as well as for the first three quarters of 2018.
|
County |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
Q1 2018 |
Q2 2018 |
Q3 2018 |
|
Dublin |
180 |
205 |
242 |
284 |
327 |
69 |
72 |
68 |
|
Kildare |
1 |
1 |
7 |
8 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
|
Meath |
1 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
Wicklow |
1 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Laois |
2 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
|
Longford |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Offaly |
1 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
Westmeath |
9 |
12 |
28 |
36 |
42 |
3 |
9 |
6 |
|
Clare |
5 |
9 |
12 |
18 |
22 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
|
Limerick |
23 |
22 |
40 |
49 |
42 |
8 |
7 |
10 |
|
Tipperary |
4 |
3 |
12 |
8 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Cavan |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Louth |
4 |
10 |
20 |
24 |
22 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
|
Monaghan |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Donegal |
7 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
|
Leitrim |
1 |
2 |
8 |
8 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
|
Sligo |
10 |
7 |
15 |
20 |
18 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
|
Carlow |
1 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Kilkenny |
3 |
4 |
10 |
10 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
Waterford |
14 |
11 |
31 |
17 |
11 |
5 |
9 |
5 |
|
Wexford |
2 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
Cork |
31 |
30 |
48 |
49 |
51 |
10 |
14 |
21 |
|
Kerry |
1 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
|
Galway |
15 |
19 |
41 |
42 |
62 |
10 |
20 |
12 |
|
Mayo |
3 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
Roscommon |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Total |
326 |
359 |
565 |
638 |
682 |
135 |
172 |
154 |
