Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. That there are more than 3,000 IDA client company jobs in Letterkenny shows what a good place Donegal can be in which to do business.

It is a phenomenal number of jobs in IDA-supported companies, and those companies have been growing in recent years. They include SITA, Pramerica, Optum and Kirchoff, to name a small number of those which are continuing to employ many people. In many cases they are increasing employment numbers.

The problem has been with new client companies coming to the area. Those that come can prosper but the Minister must ensure that through work with IDA Ireland and agencies, we can see new client companies come in that can build and grow into the future. Until the end of last year, there were only two new client visits to the county from a total of over 600 nationally. That is simply not good enough and the Minister must address it. Will the Minister take action to engage with IDA Ireland to try to ensure this can be improved drastically?

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