Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2013
65. Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount of foreign direct investment that has taken place in a county (details supplied) over the past five years, broken down by year; the companies that have made such investments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53187/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails of the amount of grants paid in Co. Carlow and Co. Wicklow from 2007 to 2012 are set out in the following tabular statement.
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. 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. With improvements in infrastructure and investment in one town in a region it has a positive effect on other towns in the region.
The East Region, which includes Wicklow, has been particularly successful in recent years in terms of attracting inward investment from FDI companies and employing 67,860 people. At present, there are 17 IDA supported companies in Co. Wicklow employing 2,267 people.
IDA Ireland's Strategy for County Carlow within the South East Region is to progress the development of a knowledge economy so that the county, and particularly the county town of Carlow, can compete both nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment. Carlow has traditionally been a centre of manufacturing with a strong engineering tradition in both the indigenous and overseas sectors. At the end of 2012, there were 7 IDA Ireland supported companies in Co. Carlow employing 576 people.
IDA Ireland has strong relationships with all these companies and works closely with them to ensure their long term sustainability and to encourage their growth, development and continuing re-investment in their sites. Among the companies who announced job creation plans or fresh investment plans in recent years for Co. Carlow were: Merck Sharp & Dohme Biologics (Ireland) Ltd, Unum and Merck & Co Inc. Similarly, for Co. Wicklow were: Nypro and Oriflame.
Work in winning new investments has been continuing steadily in the second half of 2013 and, on the basis of the trends so far, I am confident that the targets set out for IDA Ireland in the Action Plan for Jobs 2013, of winning more than 130 new investments, securing €500m in R&D and creating 13,000 jobs in IDA client companies, will be achieved.
Table showing the amount of grants paid in Co. Carlow and Co. Wicklow from 2007 to 2012
|
County |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Carlow |
€553,820 |
€480,305 |
€176,000 |
€0 |
€0 |
€9,503,141 |
|
Wicklow |
€629,010 |
€232,593 |
€791,321 |
€513,000 |
€0 |
€48,328 |
