Regional development is a key plank of the Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise, and is an important focus of my Department and our enterprise agencies and Local Enterprise Offices.
IDA Ireland’s strategy 'Driving Recovery & Sustainability, 2021-2024', has an ambitious target of 800 investments over the lifetime of its current strategy and it will target half of all investments to regional locations. In launching IDA Ireland’s 2022 Annual Report this year, I was pleased to acknowledge the welcoming environment for FDI in all parts of the country, and that the strong spread of jobs and investment in the IDA results was in keeping with government policy. Moreover, this policy achievement continued into 2023 with 67 (48%) of the 139 investments outside of Dublin during the first half of the year. This builds on the 2022 figures of 52% of investments won (127 projects of the 242) going to regional locations. Our aim is for well paid, long-term sustainable jobs, to be available in every region in Ireland.
The FDI performance in the Mid-East Region, which includes counties Louth and Meath, has been strong over the past five years. County Louth is home to 36 IDA Ireland client companies directly employing 4,485 people. Meath is home to 18 IDA Ireland client companies directly employing 2,449 people.
The timely provision of appropriate, cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of multinational companies remains essential to winning FDI. In June 2021, IDA Ireland acquired two landbanks in Co Louth. These land acquisitions, with a combined total of c.157 acres are situated in Drogheda and in Dundalk and form part of IDA’s long-term strategic plan to position Louth and the wider region to compete for FDI investment.
IDA has also recently delivered an Advanced Office Solution on IDA’s Finnabair Business Park and an Advanced Business Solution building at IDA’s Mullagharlin Science & Technology Park in Dundalk. The Agency also plans to commence the delivery of an Advanced Building Solution in Drogheda as part of the current strategy 2021-2024.
During the period of its previous strategy, IDA undertook significant upgrade work on its Business & Technology Parks in Dundalk and at the Mullagharlin Strategic Site. IDA will continue to work closely with the private sector in the Mid-East to secure the provision and marketing of appropriate and cost-effective building and property solutions for client companies.
In relation to site visits, these are recorded and verified quarterly by the IDA, and my Department is provided details of these visits retrospectively. IDA site visit figures (both "e" and in-person) to the end of Q2 2023 are set out in the following table:
|
|
Q2 2023
|
2022
|
2021
|
2020
|
|
Louth
|
8
|
16
|
10
|
14
|
|
Meath
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
*It should be noted that potential clients visiting Ireland may visit more than one county and may return to a location more than once. The figures above represent an individual visit and is therefore not indicative of the number of companies that have visited.
Regional enterprise development is also a strategic focus for Enterprise Ireland. Through its regional strategy ‘Powering the Regions’, Enterprise Ireland seeks to expand the reach of the Enterprise Ireland client base in every county and region in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland client companies employed 6,369 people in Louth in 2022 (with 613 jobs created) and 7,943 people in Meath (with 816 jobs created). Recent job announcements for Enterprise Ireland clients include Hanley Energy who announced 225 new jobs for Louth, and Monaghan, in December 2022, whilst Xocean announced 300 new jobs for Louth in July 2023.
In August 2022 we turned the sod at the Boyne Valley Food Hub, a flagship project of the Boyne Valley Food Innovation District, which is funded by €1.58m under the Enterprise Ireland Regional Enterprise Development Fund and has been in development since 2019.
In addition, Enterprise Ireland supports research and innovation in companies and third level institutions as well as providing incubation space for new start-ups and supporting High Potential Start-Up Companies in manufacturing and internationally traded services. Through its network of 40 global offices, Enterprise Ireland also provides export assistance to companies to access and develop new markets.
