Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The information I have in regard to the business site at Drinagh is that it is 7.5 acres and it is available for marketing. I want to highlight a point I referred to in my first contribution, namely, 70% of new jobs are created by existing clients.

That is an important statistic.

Wexford is very strong in the medical-technology, medtech, sector. Ireland's medtech sector is on a par with those in Minnesota or Germany. We are very strong in that area. It is not all about IDA Ireland jobs. It is about Enterprise Ireland jobs also. Enterprise Ireland is doing an excellent job in that regard. There are 17 foreign direct investment, FDI, companies in Wexford, many of them in the medtech sector. The number of indigenous small industries that can come out of those foreign direct companies speaks for itself. Employment in the south east increased by 4.6% last year. IDA Ireland had a very strong year last year, which saw all regions experiencing growth.

I am familiar with what Deputy D'Arcy is talking about in the Wexford-Waterford area. Wexford has its strengths. The Deputy spoke about site visits. He is correct. There were very few site visits in 2012; I believe there were only three. Last year, there were seven site visits. IDA Ireland's team in the south east is marketing Wexford equally as much as Waterford but he must consider the way IDA Ireland operates. It operates in regions. It has to try to bring jobs into regions. It cannot simply bring jobs into towns because it is competing with other big cities such as Manchester, which has a population of 5 million or 6 million. That is the way it has to operate to attract companies into these regions. In any event, it is up to the companies to decide where they locate but it is important the Deputy takes note of the fact that 70% of new jobs come from existing companies. I believe there are great opportunities for the existing IDA Ireland companies, particularly in the medtech sector but also in the indigenous area, and for Enterprise Ireland to grow jobs as well as the local employment offices.

See this speech in context