Denis Naughten
Ceist:160 Mr. Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether the IDA target of 50% of new investment to be located in the Border Midlands West region is attainable. [21862/01]
Written Answers. - Regional Investment.
Over the past two years IDA Ireland has radically changed its policies with the aim of delivering half of all new greenfield jobs into Objective One regions. This involves doubling the proportion of greenfield jobs negotiated for these regions.
In an effort to ensure that the objective will be achieved, IDA Ireland initially reorganised its internal structures. This restructuring included allocation of additional staff to its regional offices, opening new regional offices in Cavan and Limerick and allocation of regional responsibilities to key executives in its HQ project divisions.
Recently, IDA announced that additional posts would be transferred to Athlone, which will comprise staff from regions, property, and healthcare divisions bringing the staff complement up to 30. In addition, posts are being transferred to Sligo comprising staff from international services and consumer products divisions bringing the staff complement up to 15. The purpose of these moves is to drive growth from within the regions, and to develop these centres as magnets for growth for these regions.
Other initiatives include putting a greater focus on marketing of the regions for specific sectors and improvement of marketing material for the regions.
IDA Ireland's incentive package is also geared in favour of the Objective One regions which is in line with EU state aid limits. In the Objective One regions IDA has acquired a number of additional sites and also upgraded many of its sites to business park standard. Furthermore, it has arranged, in partnership with private developers, to provide advance factories and advance offices in a number of key locations.
As a result of the above initiatives, 50% of all jobs negotiated by IDA Ireland during 2000 in new greenfield investment projects have been secured for the Objective One regions. This is a strong result in that it came from intensive and radically changed marketing approaches by the IDA team working in close partnership with the local authorities and the third level colleges and universities across the country. Despite the ongoing retrenchment in the US economy, which is the source of a significant proportion of overseas investment, IDA continues to strive towards maintaining this level of investment in the BMW region.
However, improved access is crucial to attracting new overseas investment to the regions and in this context the importance of improved air and road access cannot be over emphasised. This has been recognised in the National Development Plan 2000-2006, which includes plans to bring our roads, railway and air services up to a standard consistent with a modern economy within the next six years. Availability of high quality telecommunications and energy supplies are also essential. IDA Ireland is keeping in close contact with relevant infrastructure providers to ensure that they are aware of IDA's priorities.