Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 February 2007
90 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the total State and private investment in the digital hub; the extent to which the hub will develop in the future; the number of other investors expected to get involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5422/07]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince 2000, the State has invested close to EUR €93.75 million in the Digital Hub project. That sum comprises of an initial investment in property purchase of €73.64 million for circa 9 acres in the Thomas Street/Liberties area of Dublin. State of the art telecommunications infrastructure investment came to €2.29 million. The remainder of the amount is made up of operational expenditure. To date, the Agency has received exchequer assistance of EUR €15.3 million in order to meet its performance targets.
Total private sector investment in the Agency has amounted to EUR €3.4 million. Additional investment has been, and continues to be, undertaken by firms who choose to locate in the Hub. Exact details of those investments are not available. In terms of growth, the Agency has grown the cluster to 75 companies now employing over 500 employees in the Hub. These enterprises are involved in a range of activities including gaming, software development, mobile technology, animation and TV production. A target of 200 companies, employing over 2,000 people, has been set for 2012. Estimates suggest that the Global Digital Media industry will be worth at least EUR €1.1 trillion by 2009, representing growth of more than 53% in the period.
Currently in Ireland there are between 400-500 companies in this space, employing almost 3,500 people. In 2003 there were few foreign owned digital media companies in Ireland. Today 20% of the Digital Hub companies are foreign owned. In order to support the development of the Hub and expand the number of high value added jobs in the Digital Media industry, I announced in November 2005, the acceptance of tenders for two separate sites in the Digital Hub area. In return for 6 acres of land, the State will receive a combination of €72.4 million in cash and €45.7 million in high quality offices, which will accommodate digital enterprises as the Digital Hub grows.
This land is to be developed as a mixture of residential, commercial and retail properties, in addition to public spaces. The private developers who tendered, competed on the basis of bids of cash plus office space. The breakdown of the tenders means that the Digital Hub will receive over 150,000 square foot of office space by 2012.
