Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Regional development is at the centre of the Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the White Paper on enterprise, and it is the key focus of our Department's leadership of the regional enterprise plans. Similarly, the IDA’s strategy, Driving Recovery and Sustainability 2021-2024, has an ambitious target of 800 investments over the lifetime of its current strategy, and it will target half of all investments to regional locations.

The foreign direct investment, FDI, performance in the mid-east, which comprises counties Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, has been strong over the past five years.

County Louth is home to 36 IDA Ireland client companies directly employing 4,485 people. Enterprise Ireland clients support 6,369 jobs in Louth, 613 of which were created last year alone.

The timely provision of appropriate, cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of multinational companies remains essential to winning FDI. In June 2021, IDA Ireland acquired two land banks in County Louth. These land acquisitions, with a combined total of 157 acres, are situated in Drogheda and Dundalk and form part of the IDA’s long-term strategic plan to position Louth and the wider region to compete for FDI investment. The IDA has also delivered an advanced office solution on IDA’s Finnabair Business Park and an advanced business solution building at IDA’s Mullaharlin science and technology park in Dundalk. The agency also plans to commence the delivery of an advanced building solution in Drogheda as part of the current strategy.

The IDA continues to work with private sector commercial property owners, developers and local authorities to market other property solutions across all regions where they exist. The IDA is familiar with the property and infrastructure solution that the Xerox business campus offers to potential new enterprises and actively markets such potential property solutions for FDI and to meet the needs of Enterprise Ireland clients.

I was in Dundalk a couple of weeks ago with one of the Deputy's colleagues. There are some amazing business opportunities happening in the town in terms of new indigenous business and making the most of the creative spark hub, but there is also huge investment coming in from abroad. It is fair to say the town is thriving, but we remain ambitious for Dundalk and the entire region.

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