Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

IDA Ireland's building programme is very good, but it needs to be more ambitious. I would like to see the Minister return to the Dáil to seek more funding. IDA Ireland has targeted third level institutions. In this regard, the Minister listed the institutes in Carlow, Athlone and Waterford. IDA Ireland is building where an institute of technology, university or college is located. That is fine, but many other places do not have such an institution. North Wicklow is an example and obviously I am lobbying on its behalf. There are plenty of areas where the lack of grade A office space means that nobody is coming to them and developers will not build the first building. It is a case of the chicken and the egg. We have lost several high-tech investment opportunities in north Wicklow because there are no suitable buildings available. I spoke to IDA Ireland about the matter and it explained that it was co-locating buildings with educational facilities. I ask the Minister to look at the matter.

I wish to ask follow-up questions to the one posed by Deputy Niall Collins. Is there a consultation programme? Could Dublin City Council, Wicklow County Council or Longford County Council approach IDA Ireland about securing an IDA Ireland building for its region?

I wish to talk about a third issue. It is one for Enterprise Ireland and that I have mentioned to the Minister in the Dáil. One of Enterprise Ireland's tasks is to link indigenous companies with the multinational supply chain. I have heard anecdotal evidence that it does not have the resources required to carry out this task properly. The issue has been paid lip service, but that is not a criticism. Linking companies is not happening on any scale, but there is a huge opportunity to create jobs. The Minister may not know the answer to my next question, but I ask her to come back to the committee with her answer. How much money has been allocated for the task of linking companies? Will such expenditure be increased?

My next questions concern gross and net job figures. Having a 45,000 jobs figure is great. Obviously, a net jobs figure of 25,000 means that 20,000 jobs have been lost, which seems like a lot. Are there structural or strategic reasons we are losing almost half of the jobs created? It feels like a big loss. Is the Minister concerned about the matter and is she looking at it?

Infrastructure has been mentioned. The latest World Competitiveness Yearbook ranks Ireland at No. 7, which is very good, but we are ranked at No. 23 when it comes to infrastructure. I know that the matter does not come within the remit of the Minister's Department, but it does advise on transport and broadband. Does the Minister think we should accelerate our investment in infrastructure, specifically with a view to increasing the level of job creation and retention?

As Dublin is served reasonably well, I would like to ask in particular about investment in infrastructure in the regions. I refer, for example, to the development of a high-quality road between Cork, Limerick and Galway, the acceleration of the roll-out of broadband and the development of innovation centres in smaller towns around the country. Does the Minister believe sufficient capital investment is happening to facilitate job creation? Would she like to see an increase in such investment?