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

IDA Ireland is the statutory body charged with the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and its regions. I have been informed by IDA Ireland that in County Donegal it supports 14 companies which employ 2,228 people in software development, systems development and the medical technology industry. This represents an increase of 403 persons at work in IDA Ireland companies in the past two years, an increase of 20%.

The industry base in County Donegal is transforming from the clothing and textile industry to high tech, high skill activity. Accordingly, IDA Ireland continues to work with its existing client base to encourage it to transform and expand existing operations, while actively encouraging new investment in County Donegal in knowledge based industries and high-end manufacturing, mainly in companies in the medical technologies sector. In October 2012 KeyedIn solutions announced its plans to establish a software development centre in Letterkenny with the creation of 20 highly skilled jobs over three years.

The challenge facing IDA Ireland is to continue to win top quality investment for Ireland in a very challenging global environment. International competition for foreign direct investment has become extremely intense and continues to increase. Leading global corporations require a significant population pool, access to qualified talent, world class physical and digital infrastructure, as well as the availability of sophisticated, professional and business support services. This does create difficulties for regional locations and IDA Ireland has to focus on the main regional urban centres which are where the interest of most visiting investors will focus. IDA Ireland continues to seek every opportunity to bring investment to County Donegal.

IDA Ireland has also assured me that it continues to focus on the designated linked gateway of Letterkenny-Derry. This focus involves developing stronger economic links with Invest Northern Ireland which includes initiatives such as the north west business and technology zone, NWBTZ, which aims to promote the linked gateway of Letterkenny-Derry in line with the Northern Ireland regional development strategy 2025.

Additional Information not given on the floor of the House.

I am mindful that, in order to ensure Ireland can continue to compete globally for FDI projects, it will be necessary to undertake an in-depth analysis of our FDI strategy with a view to informing the formulation of an appropriate strategy for the period post-2014. This analysis which will be undertaken later this year will take account of factors such as key trends emerging in FDI best practice internationally, Ireland's strengths in attracting foreign direct investment, changes to the European Union's state aid rules that may be introduced in the near future and our agreed approach to regional development.

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