Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

Ireland has seen very positive jobs growth in recent years, and we are now at virtually full employment. However, announcements like this show that we can never become complacent and take any jobs for granted. It shows that there are challenges in certain markets that are beyond the State's control at times. Inflationary pressures, energy costs and the recent increase in US tariffs have created additional challenges for businesses across the country. The Minister, Deputy Burke, can assure the House that the State will provide appropriate supports to employees impacted by this particular closure. The Intreo office of the Department of Social Protection will proactively help them to access opportunities available for employment or appropriate training and development options.

As a Government, we will continue to focus on building the resilience of businesses and on keeping innovation at the heart of that. The IDA continues to work effectively with national and local stakeholders to ensure that each region has the necessary conditions in place to foster enterprise and innovation and attract investment and talent. The IDA enjoys a close working relationship with all key stakeholders across the four counties in the region and is heavily involved in a significant number of initiatives across that region to improve the value proposition of FDI, including the just transition, the midlands regional enterprise plan steering committee, the ICT network, the ATIM cluster steering committee and the regional skills forum. There are loads of them. The availability of quality business parks and strategic sites shows that there is a critical component of the regional value proposition there, which is there to be able to win investment into the regions. It is crucial that the midlands region have a competitive and sustainable property offering to enable the attraction and retention of investment in jobs. The IDA has made considerable investments in land, buildings and infrastructure across the midlands region.

As the Deputy mentioned, the IDA acquired 18.46 ha of land adjacent to the business and technology park in Portlaoise in October 2022 and an additional 4.25 ha last year. That land is currently available for promotion on the business and technology park in Portlaoise and is almost 30 ha at this point. IDA Ireland continues to assist Enterprise Ireland companies with their property requirements as they set up and scale.

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