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Foreign Direct Investment

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021

Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Questions (48)

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

48. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the full details of the recent IDA acquisition of two large sites in County Louth, one in Drogheda and one in Dundalk; the cost of each site; the exact locations of each; the proposed plans for each site; if he will provide any other relevant details; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41040/21]

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Written answers

IDA Ireland recently announced that it has acquired two landbanks in Co Louth. The land acquisitions, with a combined total of 149 acres, situated at the townland of Killally, in Dundalk and Mell in Drogheda form part of IDA’s long term strategic plans to position Louth and the wider North East region to compete for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The cost to acquire each site is commercially sensitive information. IDA Ireland engaged accredited agents to act on its behalf and is satisfied that the prices agreed are in alignment with expected market opinion and conditions.

The timely provision of appropriate, cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of MNCs remains essential to winning FDI. IDA’s regional property programme ensures the continued supply of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations to meet the needs of current and prospective clients. A robust property and infrastructure ecosystem can be the key differentiator in winning FDI projects. IDA Ireland is pleased to have acquired these two landbanks enhancing the offering in the North East. Over the last five years, IDA’s Regional Property Programme enabled the winning of capital-intensive projects of significant scale to regional locations. IDA will continue to work with commercial property developers and Local Authorities to market other property solutions where they exist.

The FDI performance in the North East Region has been strong over the past five years with employment growing among IDA clients within the Engineering & Industrial Technologies, Medical Technologies, Technology, International Financial Services and Life Sciences sectors. Co. Louth is home to 30 IDA Ireland client companies employing more than 4,372 people. In recent years, IDA Ireland supported companies including WUXI, Wasdell, Almac, PCI Pharma Services, Amazon Web Services and Simply NUC have announced investments and expansions for Co. Louth which has driven the demand for property solutions.

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