Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2024
264. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits hosted by the IDA in County Carlow in 2023 and for the first two months of 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16606/24]
View answerRegional development is an key plank of Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise, and is the focus of my Department's work on developing and implementing Regional Enterprise Plans. In this regard, IDA Ireland is committed to the pursuit of balanced, compact regional development and is targeting that at least half of all investments - that is 400 of 800 - from 2021 to 2024 are landed for regional locations. Results for 2023 showed that total employment in IDA client companies in Ireland stood at 300,583, holding above 300,000 jobs for the second consecutive year. Moreover, of 248 investments secured through IDA client companies in 2023, 132 - or 54% - went to regional locations.
The South-East Region comprises counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford and there are 86 IDA client companies in the South-East Region, employing 15,301 people with four of these in Carlow employing 1,440 people. Foreign Direct Investment performance in the region has been consistent over the past five years with employment among IDA clients increasing by 14%. As the Deputy will know, the South-East Region has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across Technology, Life Sciences, International Financial Services and Engineering & Industrial Technologies which are complemented by research centres that help win new business and assist existing client companies with transformation. Counties in the South-East also benefit hugely from the direct and indirect employment generated by IDA client companies located in Dublin.
In addition, investment by IDA Ireland through its property programme aims to ensure the supply of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations as required by current and prospective clients to remain competitive in attracting Foreign Direct Investment to the regions including the South-East. IDA Ireland continues to engage with new and existing companies on promoting Ireland as a location for their business and the Agency will continue to promote Carlow for virtual and in-person site visits to prospective companies throughout 2024 and beyond. Over 2023 there were 5 site visits to Carlow, all of which were in-person and figures for Q1 2024 are currently being verified and will be available later this month.
