Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2019
288. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the efforts being made to promote Mullingar, County Westmeath as an attractive centre for regional development and in particular for IDA led investment in the context of trying to achieve the target of increased employment opportunities outside of the cities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3103/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince becoming Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, I have made regional development my top priority. Indeed, enterprise development and job creation in the regions of Ireland is a key policy priority of this Government.
We want to have a situation where all regions are enabled to realise their potential as contributors to economic recovery and growth, and thereby reduce regional disparities.
For the State as a whole, since the launch of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs (Q1 2015 to Q3 2018) there has been an increase of 258,800 people in employment, with 163,500 of these located in the regions outside Co. Dublin – that’s 3 out of every 5 jobs created.
In the year from Q3 2017 – Q3 2018, just over half (51%) of the jobs created were outside of Co. Dublin.
The Midlands has seen good progress, with employment in the region increasing by 17.6% from Q1 2015 to Q3 2018. There are 19,100 more people in employment in the region from Q1 2015, the start of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs process, to Q3 2018.
CSO figures show that the unemployment rate in the Midlands Region is currently at 7.1% (Q3 2018), which is higher than the State average of 6% and continued focus is therefore required on regional enterprise development and job creation in the Midlands.
My Department’s €60 million Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) administered by Enterprise Ireland is aimed at accelerating economic recovery in all regions of the country by delivering on the potential of local and regional enterprise strengths. To date the Fund has supported 42 support significant collaborative and innovative regional initiatives around the country to build on specific industry sectoral strengths and improve enterprise capability, thereby driving job creation.
Under the REDF first call, I was very pleased to announce that Irish Manufacturing Research CLG based in Mullingar, were approved over €2 million in funding to support the development of this important asset for the manufacturing sector in the region. A further two projects for the Midlands received an allocation under the second call, totalling just over €650,000; namely Mountmellick Development Association and Offaly Innovation and Design Centre (Birr).
The Government remains committed to achieving an overall jobs uplift of between 10 and 15 percent in each region by 2020 and to bring and/or maintain unemployment levels in each region to within at least one percentage point of the State average.
That is why in April 2018, I asked the RAPJ Implementation Committees, including in the Midlands, to refresh and refocus their plans to ensure their relevance and impact out to 2020, especially in the face of current challenges, including Brexit. This work is ongoing and I expect to launch the refreshed Regional Enterprise Plan for the Midlands next month. The Regional Enterprise Plan will continue to add value to the core mandates of the enterprise agencies by bringing together regional stakeholders to work collaboratively on projects to support enterprise development.
The Enterprise Agencies continue to work to contribute to employment and economic growth throughout all regions.
Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for 2017-2020 aims to create a further 60,000 jobs, while sustaining existing ones, which will make an important contribution to jobs and economic growth across all regions.
IDA Ireland is also committed to playing its part in the economic development of Irelands Regions. IDA meanwhile will continue to target a minimum increase in investment of 30% to 40% in each region outside Dublin to 2019.
The IDA regularly engages with key stakeholders on the ground in County Westmeath, including with local authorities, public bodies, the education sector and companies from both its own client base but also from the indigenous sector.
There are now 42 IDA supported companies based in the Midlands, employing 5,720 people in 2018. This employment figure represents a 14% increase on 2017. The Midlands Region was the highest performing Region in terms of FDI employment growth in Ireland during 2018. The Region has been successful over a number of years in mobilising inward foreign direct investment (FDI), with employment levels in IDA client companies increasing every year since 2011. County Westmeath specifically has performed well with 3,466 people employed in 2018 in FDI companies, an increase of 16.5% over the 2017 figures.
Across the Region, IDA Ireland has a portfolio of Business & Technology Parks available to support IDA and EI client companies. These flagship Business Parks in key locations, including Mullingar, have been designed and landscaped to a high standard and are occupied by many high end manufacturing and international services clients with capacity to facilitate and accommodate new international investment. IDA also works closely with the private sector to encourage and market appropriate and cost-effective building and property solutions suitable for FDI clients.
The region has an impressive range of companies across all industry sectors, with particular strengths in Life Sciences, Technology, Global Business Services, International Financial Services and Engineering. Significant ‘new name’ investments in recent years in both services and manufacturing include Aerie Pharmaceutical, Neueda Technologies (both based in Athlone), SkOUT Secure Intelligence in Portlaoise and Red Seal Cups in Longford. The largest new name project has been Centre Parcs, which is a €233m development in Ballymahon, Co. Longford that will see 1,000 people employed when fully operational in 2019.
Expansions of scale from the existing client base over recent years included projects from Ericsson and NPD in Athlone, Abbott in Longford and Avery Denison in Longford. The existing FDI base of companies enjoy strong collaborative links with the Athlone Institute of Technology and the presence of a third level Institute of scale has been key to the development of the Region.
The availability of appropriate property solutions continues to be a strategic asset supporting the winning of FDI. To support the delivery of IDA’s current strategy Winning FDI 2015-2019, a €150m property investment plan was announced in February 2015. This investment focus is on the building of Advance Building Solutions (ABS), infrastructure investment in a number of Utility Intensive Strategic site solutions and the upgrade of Business and Technology Parks within IDA's national portfolio. IDA’s property investment programme for the Midlands Region included the construction of an Advance Building Solution (ABS) in the Athlone Business & Technology Park, which facilitated Aerie Pharmaceutical in establishing a new ophthalmic production facility and the creation of 50 high jobs.
IDA’s focus over the coming two years and beyond is to build on the strengths and competencies of the Midlands Region with a particular focus on high value manufacturing, services and research and development opportunities across a number of established clusters in Life Sciences, Technology, and Global Business Services. Emerging technology trends have and will continue to create new opportunities across the region in areas such as data analytics, smart manufacturing, cybersecurity and new approaches to working such as home working and hub working.
IDA Ireland will continue to work closely with existing clients to retain and strengthen their presence through continued company transformation as well as pursuing new areas of opportunity for clients companies. IDA will continue to work closely with Enterprise Ireland and its indigenous base of companies to identify synergies, enhance clusters, participate in site visits and maximise benefits for the Region.
Enhanced collaboration will be needed to align the efforts of all stakeholders and service providers to ensure that the Midlands Region continues to meet the needs of overseas companies. The delivery of necessary infrastructure and property solutions, fostering the continued development and growth of a skilled workforce and the continued development of the place-making of the Region are pre-requisites to winning continued FDI investment. Such collaboration can act as a catalyst to attracting new companies and talent to the Midlands.
The Midlands Region is very well positioned to continue to attract new FDI investment and grow employment in existing companies and IDA Ireland will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders and parties in the Region to achieve this objective under the refreshed Regional Enterprise Plan.
