Details of the number of site visits by potential investors to locations in Ireland on a county by county basis in each of the years 2006 to 2011 is set out in the tabular statement below.
One of the high level goals in IDA's Strategy "Horizon 2020" is a commitment that by 2014, 50% of all Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will be located outside of Dublin and Cork. The global economy and in particular the European economy, which is the primary target market for FDI clients in Ireland, is in a low growth phase. The challenge for IDA Ireland is to win FDI in this low growth environment. There is intense and continual international competition to win this FDI, which is mainly dominated by Metro City Regions with populations in excess of 1 million i.e. London, Manchester, Singapore, Amsterdam, Boston, Los Angeles etc.
As Ireland competes for high quality investments, the concept of scale is crucial. Leading global corporations require a significant population pool, access to qualified talent, world standard physical and digital infrastructure coupled with the availability of sophisticated professional and business support services. Ireland has only one Metro Region, the Greater Dublin area, so, in order to achieve economic regional development, IDA prioritises the marketing of Gateway locations within each Region as the locations of critical mass (i.e. sufficient scale of population, skills, infrastructure, companies, business services etc.) and highlights the opportunities provided by Hub locations which are within commuting distances of these Gateways. IDA also promotes other locations as part of its marketing efforts in response to specific client requirements.
Typically, a company is shown three or four locations within a Gateway Economic Region that can meet its requirements and, in certain cases, other locations are visited on an opportunistic basis. In selecting locations to market to client companies, IDA Ireland will endeavour to include locations which have been affected by closures/job losses. Whilst IDA Ireland seeks to influence the selection of a location, the final decision on where to locate is taken in all cases by the investor.
Breakdown of the number of IDA sponsored visits on a county basis since 2006
County
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
Carlow
|
6
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
Cavan
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
Clare
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
9
|
7
|
15
|
Cork
|
16
|
27
|
41
|
29
|
44
|
27
|
Donegal
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
Dublin
|
90
|
91
|
92
|
90
|
197
|
150
|
Galway
|
20
|
15
|
14
|
22
|
41
|
35
|
Kerry
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
Kildare
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Kilkenny
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
Laois
|
5
|
6
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
Leitrim
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Limerick
|
24
|
35
|
9
|
18
|
38
|
40
|
Longford
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Louth
|
47
|
24
|
23
|
28
|
25
|
26
|
Mayo
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
Meath
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
Monaghan
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Offaly
|
1
|
4
|
11
|
6
|
7
|
1
|
Roscommon
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Sligo
|
5
|
6
|
2
|
5
|
12
|
3
|
Tipperary
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Waterford
|
12
|
9
|
12
|
8
|
11
|
11
|
Westmeath
|
16
|
18
|
18
|
14
|
22
|
15
|
Wexford
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
Wicklow
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
Note: These figures are NOT indicative of the number of companies that visited the country. Companies can visit more than one region and more than one location within a county. Therefore, these figures indicate the number of individual site visits made to various sites around the country.