Mr. Martin Shanahan:

IDA Ireland engages with clients on their needs and wants but clients come with their own preconceptions about where they want to be located. Some come with definitive views, some less so. We present as wide an array as possible of location options to client companies. There are extremely aggressive targets in the new IDA Ireland strategy for all regions. The Deputy can be assured that we are exploiting every opportunity for all counties in terms of showing client companies the opportunities available, where client companies are open to such suggestions. In some cases, they are not open to these suggestions.

It is in the agency's best interest, for reasons outlined earlier, to spread investments as far and wide as possible and that is what we have committed to do over the next five years. We have committed to grow investments in all regions by 30% to 40%. As I stated at the outset, this will not be easy. There are no easy answers. We have set about a programme of work to try to increase investments in regional location. I have already mentioned that we have strengthened the regional team and we recently appointed a new regional manager for the midlands. This is just one step along the way. The regional action plan for the midlands was the first to be launched and it recognises that there is a lot of work to be done in this area. I hope that there will be an increase in the number of site visits to Longford and Westmeath by year end. This is my expectation based on what I see coming through, but it will take time.

I am happy to consider and engage with Deputy Troy, bilaterally and separately, on what he imagines an innovation centre in Mullingar might look like and what it would add. We are happy to engage on the matter and are open to all suggestions.

Manufacturing makes up 23% of GDP. It was not a reference to employment figures. However, that 23% and the employment associated with it is very important for the reasons I outlined at the beginning of the session. There is very significant capital investment associated with that manufacturing and we are manufacturing. Some of it is in tech, where there is manufacturing of hardware, but much of it is in medical devices and the pharma and biopharma industries. It makes the jobs associated with those investments sticky. They remain here because significant capital investment is associated with them. They also tend to be high value jobs. The type of manufacturing undertaken in Ireland is high value, zero defect and highly regulated manufacturing. There is major international competition for this type of manufacturing but it is a space we can play in unlike low value added manufacturing.

Labour, energy and development costs all remain a concern. This is not to say we are uncompetitive. We are competitive but we need to keep check on all of these issues. Energy costs is an area where we have struggled to be competitive. Labour costs have become competitive but we need to ensure we do not become uncompetitive. The lower the costs and the lower the development charges, the easier it is to win investments. This applies in all locations and not just the midlands.