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

I thank Deputy O'Dowd for raising this question and for his ongoing advocacy for the town of Drogheda. As he is aware, it and Dundalk have been designated as growth centres on the Dublin-Belfast corridor in Project Ireland 2040. The IDA is targeting 40 investments for the mid-east region from 2021 to 2024.

Louth is already home to 35 IDA Ireland client companies directly employing more than 4,500 people in technology, life sciences, international financial services and engineering and industrial technologies. In September 2021, ITRenew, a leader in circular cloud and sustainable data centre infrastructure announced it will create 40 jobs in Drogheda, and more recently Becton, Dickinson and Company, BD, announced the creation of 100 additional jobs with a €62 million investment to expand its production at its site in Drogheda.

Over the course of IDA Ireland's current strategy, the agency will provide 19 advanced building solutions across the country, and one of them will be in Drogheda. In June 2021, IDA Ireland acquired two land banks in County Louth, one in Drogheda and one in Dundalk, and these form part of IDA Ireland's long-term strategic plan to position Louth and the wider region to compete for foreign direct investment.

Enterprise Ireland has also supported and continues to work with six projects in County Louth, funded under the regional enterprise development fund and the Border enterprise development fund to a total of €11.5 million. The Minister of State, Deputy English, recently published a regional enterprise plan for the north east that encompasses Louth, Cavan and Monaghan. New funding of up to €180 million is being provided to back up these plans.

As I mentioned, Project Ireland 2040 identifies Drogheda as having a significant regional role to play to develop the economic potential of the Dublin-Belfast corridor and in particular the core Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry network and to promote and enhance international visibility. IDA Ireland will continue to work closely with Enterprise Ireland and our indigenous base of companies to identify synergies, enhance clusters, participate in site visits and maximise benefits for the region so that we can increase employment in Drogheda and have many more people working in and around the town rather than having to commute from it.

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