Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. All three Ministers in the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation are from the regions. I assure the Deputy that the Department is very focused on spreading investment across the country. This includes jobs and investment that could potentially arise as a result of Brexit.

Creating more jobs in the regions is a particular priority for IDA Ireland and my Department. That is why additional financial resources have been secured to support the strategic response to Brexit by our enterprise agencies, including IDA Ireland. This is aimed at both capitalising on the opportunities and addressing the challenges associated with the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. These resources have already allowed for new posts to be created and for an increase in marketing and communication activities.

While, as the Deputy has pointed out, lower accommodation costs are a selling point for cities outside the capital, attracting foreign direct investment to regional areas is not without its challenges. This is largely because there is a global trend to base foreign direct investment in large urban areas. For example, they want to be near transport hubs or in close proximity to third level institutions. Companies also often want to be located near competitors or clusters of other similar enterprises, which means they are more likely to decide to on an urban area. If they are near others in their sector they can get more workers for their companies. This can make securing investment a little bit more difficult. At the same time quality of life is also important.

Despite all that, real progress has been made in the level of foreign direct investment outside the main urban areas. In 2017 alone 70% of all jobs created were outside the Dublin region, including 45% of all jobs created by IDA Ireland. Similarly, 65% of all Enterprise Ireland client employment is outside Dublin. In recent times, there has been a great deal of investment in the regions - for example, in Longford, Sligo and Dundalk. We are working hard, across Government, to ensure further projects are secured in regional areas throughout the remainder of 2018 and beyond.

Yesterday the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, visited Athlone.

I stress that the IDA does its utmost to encourage clients to locate in areas that are most in need of investment and highlights the benefits of expanding or locating in all counties to its client base. It is encouraging that in the first quarter of 2018 there were 135 site visits and about half of those were outside the greater Dublin area.

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The IDA will continue to showcase regional areas to potential investors and we are determined that the benefits of FDI will be felt, as best as possible, all across the country. We have to remember, however, that the ultimate decision as to where to invest is always taken by overseas firms themselves.

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