Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the IDA Ireland delegation. To start with the point on which Mr. Shanahan finished, I pay tribute to him and his team on this island and across the world for the work they do. There is no doubt they continue to break records everywhere and they will manage to keep ahead of the competition. Approximately 15,000 jobs have been created and nearly 8,000 have been lost so how does that compare with other international agencies? We nearly create two new jobs for each one we lose. Are any specific sectors losing jobs in particular?

The witness mentioned a number of large-scale capital projects and some of those were delayed in planning. Is our planning system fit for purpose of the kinds of companies that IDA Ireland is trying to entice, particularly with regard to the likes of data centres and other buildings that take up much space? There has again been a negative focus on our corporation tax while the quality of our labour force and research and development, for example, is ignored. Is that an ongoing negative issue with clients? Is it on the radar? Cost competitiveness was mentioned, as well as the need to keep on top of it, so what are the specific cost areas that you are concerned about?

The witness will not be surprised when I mention the regions. There were six regional action plans published and they commit to 427 new investment projects outside Dublin between now and 2019. The IDA strategy commits to 900 individual investments. With some plans yet to be published, the various regional jobs action plans are committing to nearly half of those plans being outside Dublin, with each area getting an increase of approximately 30% or 40%. Given that IDA Ireland has not yet broken 40% in terms of investments, how will it be done, given the pressures mentioned in terms of urbanisation? Do the regional jobs action plans dovetail into the IDA Ireland plan? What specific new strategies are to be engaged to ensure that kind of investment can be achieved in the regions?