Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2018
67. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA site visits in each county in the first, second and third quarters, respectively, of 2018 in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50528/18]
View answerCreating more jobs outside of our main cities is a key priority for both the IDA and my Department. That is why, as part of Budget 2019, I secured €10 million in additional funding to allow the Agency to roll out the next phase of its Regional Property Programme. This brings the Agency's total Exchequer allocation for property next year up to €47m and means that the IDA will have further resources to continue investing in strategic sites, upgrading business parks and constructing buildings across the country. That should help to attract more overseas firms to regional locations and thereby create new employment opportunities.
Whilst the IDA is doing everything within its power to ensure its clients locate outside the country’s principal urban areas, attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to the regions is not without its challenges. Many overseas firms, for example, will only consider large cities where there is ready access to transport hubs. Companies also often want to be located near competitors or clusters of other similar enterprises, which means they are more likely to decide to situate themselves in urban areas.
Despite those challenges, real progress is being made in increasing levels of FDI in the regions. In 2017, for example, 70% of all jobs created were outside Dublin, including 45% of all jobs created by IDA clients. Similarly, 65% of all Enterprise Ireland client employment is outside Dublin. This year, meanwhile, has seen a number of very high-profile investments in the regions, including in counties Longford, Sligo and Louth. We are working hard, across Government, to build on that progress and ensure further projects are secured for regional Ireland in the coming years.
I want to stress too that IDA Ireland does its utmost to encourage clients to locate in areas that are most in need of investment. While the final decision is always for the company in question itself to take, the Agency makes a particular effort to promote regional locations. This is reflected in site visit statistics for the first three quarters of 2018, where over half of the total number of 461 visits were to regional areas. A breakdown of site visits this year is set out in the table.
It should also be noted that FDI only forms one part of investment in regional locations. Indigenous enterprise is responsible for a significant portion of employment growth, especially outside Dublin. My Department, and its Agencies, work together constantly to ensure that jobs and investment – whether driven by FDI or indigenous firms – are spread as fairly as possible across Ireland.
Appendix A - Site Visits by County 2017 to Q1 2018
Note: Potential clients visiting Ireland may visit more than one county and may return to a location more than once. These figures represent individual visits and, therefore, are not indicative of the number of companies that have visited.
|
County |
2017 |
Q1-Q3 2018 |
|
Dublin |
327 |
209 |
|
Kildare |
10 |
5 |
|
Meath |
3 |
5 |
|
Wicklow |
2 |
1 |
|
Laois |
4 |
7 |
|
Longford |
7 |
2 |
|
Offaly |
5 |
4 |
|
Westmeath |
42 |
18 |
|
Clare |
22 |
9 |
|
Limerick |
42 |
25 |
|
Tipperary |
8 |
1 |
|
Cavan |
2 |
1 |
|
Louth |
22 |
15 |
|
Monaghan |
1 |
1 |
|
Donegal |
2 |
6 |
|
Leitrim |
5 |
5 |
|
Sligo |
18 |
12 |
|
Carlow |
8 |
3 |
|
Kilkenny |
6 |
3 |
|
Waterford |
11 |
19 |
|
Wexford |
3 |
3 |
|
Cork |
51 |
45 |
|
Kerry |
9 |
8 |
|
Galway |
62 |
42 |
|
Mayo |
7 |
5 |
|
Roscommon |
3 |
2 |
|
Total |
682 |
461 |
