Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The acquisition of property by a State agency is not something that I, as Minister, can get too involved in as it would not be appropriate to do so. However, I certainly hear the case the Deputy is making for facilitating both the potential future expansion of the Abbott site and having an advanced business solution at another location. I know IDA Ireland is aware of the case for such an approach, but I will emphasise it to the agency.

In total, there are six IDA Ireland-supported companies in County Longford employing more than 1,000 people. That is a strong performance by the county in recent years. In addition, the State has been involved in Centre Parcs, which recently announced an €85 million expansion of its Longford forest facility. If we can add another substantial investment to that, we would be making good progress in the county.

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