Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 October 2012
292. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of times sites in the Balbriggan area of North County Dublin have been shown to prospective investors in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44792/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by IDA Ireland that the data on site visits by potential investors is tracked on a regional basis. Balbriggan is located in the Dublin Region and, in the period from the beginning of 2008 to the end of August 2012, there had been a total of 666 site visits to that region. Details of the number of visits to the Dublin Region in each of the years 2008 to 2012 are set out in the attached tabular statement.
Dublin is recognized as one of Europe’s leading business locations and has been a spectacular success in terms of Foreign Direct Investment as it hosts many of the world’s leading companies such as Google, eBay, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Oracle, Pfizer, Amgen, IBM, Citi and Accenture. There are 492 IDA client companies employing 51,910 people in permanent employment and a further 5,075 in part-time and contract positions in Dublin City and County.
While, globally, the outlook for FDI continues to be challenging, IDA Ireland has assured me that there are still investment opportunities to be won in global markets. Accordingly, the Agency continues to compete vigorously for such projects for Ireland and, as part of that process, continues to promote Dublin City and County including Balbriggan for suitable investment.
While IDA tries to influence the location of investments, the final decision on where to locate is taken in all cases by the investor.
Table showing the number of site visits by potential investors to the Dublin Region in each of the years 2008 to 2012.
|
Year |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 (end of August 2012) |
|
Site visits |
92 |
90 |
197 |
150 |
137 |
