Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Burke for his very important question. Balanced regional development is a Government priority and a central component of the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 is to support balanced regional enterprise development. My Department and its agencies work to support this agenda in several ways, including through the work of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, local enterprise offices, LEOs and nine regional enterprise plans.

Enterprise Ireland supports over 4,000 Irish companies across every region in our country and during 2024, these businesses created more than 15,000 new jobs bringing employment at Enterprise Ireland-supported companies to 234,454, with 66% of those jobs outside Dublin. Enterprise Ireland’s new strategy, Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally, published earlier this year, sets out a comprehensive roadmap to support Irish businesses to grow and thrive at home and abroad. This will help to drive economic growth and regional development right around the country.

In addition, Enterprise Ireland supports businesses directly through its regional offices and in collaboration with the 31 LEOs around the country. As the first-stop shop for any Irish business seeking development support, the LEOs play a key role in supporting the growth and development of businesses across every town and community in the country. Published last year, the LEO policy statement outlines how the LEOs work to foster a strong entrepreneurial culture and promote enterprise nationally, through a mix of programmes, supports and campaigns.

Foreign direct investment has a significant impact in realising balanced regional growth and IDA Ireland has continued its strong commitment to regional development as one of four key strategic objectives of its 2025 to 2029 strategy, Adapt Intelligently.

Published in February this year, this ambitious strategy aims to secure 550 FDI projects outside Dublin, amounting to 55% of all planned investments. The overarching goal is to create 75,000 new jobs nationwide and generate a projected €250 billion in economic impact. IDA Ireland has also set an ambitious target for regional Ireland. To support regional opportunities, IDA Ireland also offers eight regional locations, providing local support to clients, working closely with local stakeholders, including councils, to attract new and maintain existing investment.

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