Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, and I welcome the announcement of the second round of the fund, which will be very welcome. She visited Mullingar with me a number of months ago. We visited Trend Technologies, TEG and Robotics & Drives, companies that are operating at the cutting edge of technology. I am fully confident that these companies will grow rapidly and provide huge employment in the Mullingar area to complement what is there. I also want to mention IMR. This is a huge facility at the National Science Park. The founding members include Trend Technologies, Mergon International, SteriPack, and TEG. There are 42 live projects there, supporting many multinationals in the area and other indigenous firms. I would be grateful if the Minister could reaffirm the commitment of her Department in regard to it and the huge support it is giving to the area.

I am working with Mayor Andrew Duncan in Mullingar municipal district to organise a meeting in the Department with the head of the Mullingar chamber, Mr. Tom Hyland, and other stakeholders. We aim to drive this forward to ensure that it is a major asset to the area and makes a difference. A project like this has the capacity to create at least 500 jobs. High-end technology is something that Ireland is good at. One can see the work with robotics that has been done in Mullingar, which the Minister saw first-hand. We have heard in the past fortnight that Robotics & Drives is going to be working with the National Steering Committee on Cobotics. That is a huge area where cutting-edge technology is again at the forefront. I would be grateful if the Minister would update me on that.

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