Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

IDA Ireland has significant property development in the midlands and it continues to press that as a location in the context of gateway development. Obviously, the midlands is part of a wider gateway network.

In addition to that specific IDA Ireland activity, there is also Connect Ireland which is developed through a private company but is essentially a link seeking to find people who will invest in Ireland and using connector fees to do that. That is a source of job creation which is likely to have a much better regional spread. We are hopeful that initiative will see a broader spread of activity.

The Deputy is right to highlight the short and good communications. A significant decision was the decision of PayPal, having originally invested in Dublin, to have its expansion in Dundalk. It moved from a Dublin location to a Border, midlands and western, BMW, location where it had the confidence, having been established, that it could get the supply it needed and it had the communication connections. Expansions of that nature present an opportunity for achieving better regional spread.

I meet IDA Ireland regularly. We are seeking to promote regional spread but it is not our Department or the IDA which ultimately decides where companies locate. They decide that against their criteria. It is not a question of Portlaoise competing with Dublin; it is a question of Ireland competing with the United Kingdom, Switzerland or Singapore. That is the competition IDA Ireland predominantly faces, and the Deputy must understand that to understand the difficulty we are facing.

We have to have a broader regional strategy rather than simply looking at IDA Ireland as being the driver. I will continue to emphasise to IDA Ireland, as the Deputy asked, the importance of seeking to meet the target of 50% of investment outside Dublin and Cork. It is a core part of the agency’s mandate but one that is increasingly difficult to achieve.

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