Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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11. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to minimise the impact of Brexit in County Donegal; the engagement she has had with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to ensure they secure new investment in County Donegal in view of Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42763/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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What are the Minister's plans to minimise the impact of Brexit on County Donegal? What engagement has she had so far with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to ensure they secure new investment into the country particularly in view of the challenge of Brexit? Will she make a statement on the matter?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As I said in reply to one of the Deputy's colleagues earlier, I am very conscious of the threat of Brexit, particularly in the Border region and Northern counties. We have free trade at present both sides of the Border. As Deputy Smith said earlier, we really want to see that situation continue unchanged. The North East-North West action plan for jobs is the key policy response for supporting employment growth in the Border region, including Donegal. We have seen the unemployment rate in the Border region fall from 10.2% in the first quarter of 2015 to 6.6%. Clearly very good progress has been made in terms of job creation and in terms of supporting employment in Donegal and the Border region. The key point now is to ensure this continues and that we support enterprise to deal with any challenges that may be ahead.

I have already outlined to the House the initiatives we are taking to make sure that counties such as Donegal continue to see job creation. Additional funding of €150 million is being made available to IDA Ireland to support its regional property programme and to drive job creation. That is one response. Another response is making sure capital is available to companies at a low interest rate. The €300 million fund will help companies that may be experiencing temporary cash flow problems. The results of the applications to the regional development fund will be announced very shortly and there will be a new tranche in January. There is no doubt companies in Donegal have applied for it. There is a regional criterion for it. Enterprise Ireland is doing work on the Brexit scorecard, various supports and reaching out to companies. We have to make sure the companies that perceive themselves to be at risk have plans, that they diversify, work with the supports that are out there at present and face up to the potential challenges that Brexit will bring and that they are realistic about it and working on the issues.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I want to try to get in a couple more questions.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister's response is very disappointing and disheartening. My question specifically referred to the engagements she has had with the State agencies, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, with regard to trying to ensure they can up their game to deal with the challenge of Brexit. The Minister did not deal with that in her response. We need the Government to totally change its approach to the prioritisation of County Donegal by IDA Ireland in particular. In 2015 and 2016, there were 11 IDA Ireland visits to the county while in the same period there were 446 in Dublin. Just two of the approximately 600 new companies that have come to the country in the past nine years have come to Donegal. Existing companies in the county, such as Optum and Pramerica, do well and continue to bring in new employment but we are not being prioritised by IDA Ireland for new employment. What engagement has the Minister had with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to try to improve that situation?

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will have another minute to respond. I hate cutting across Deputies.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I have constant engagement with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland on job creation across the country. Both agencies are very conscious of the need to attract regional investment and, importantly, to support jobs that are already here. If one looks at the figures, 70% of all new FDI comes from existing IDA Ireland client companies. Site visit activity does not necessarily reflect investment potential. Donegal is now home to 12 IDA Ireland companies, employing 3,039 employees. That is important. It is a 37% increase since 2012. There are things happening and there are improvements. One can see that from the employment figures for Donegal. It is a 37% increase. It is important. It is going in the right direction.

I take the Deputy's point that this is a particularly challenging time in terms of the potential Brexit challenge. The Deputy should be absolutely clear that IDA Ireland is focused on regional development. We can work so far in terms of supporting a company to go into a regional area but at the end of the day the company decides where it wants to locate. What all of us working together have to do is make sure our regions are in a position to continue to attract and support foreign direct investment. Indigenous business is extremely important as well in terms of the future growth of job creation in Donegal.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I want to keep to the times because there are other Deputies waiting to ask their questions.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I will try to shake the complacency of the Minister's reply. She believes there has been a certain level of achievement by the State agencies because existing companies in the country are increasing employment. They are and they are continuing to grow because they are thriving in the county and it is a place they can do business. The point I am making is that we are getting no new investment. It is something the Minister needs to address. Companies such as Optum and Pramerica, which are growing, came to the county in the 1990s and 2000s and grew from there but we are not getting new investment by new companies. They are not coming and we need to get our fair share of that. It comes down to the Minister with responsibility and the Government driving it. There is no point in telling us there is a policy of regional development when it is quite clear the policy is failing and not happening on the ground. We need it to be addressed by the Minister. On the threat Brexit poses to our county, the fact our economy is so dependent on Northern Ireland plays a big part in that. It makes it even more important that we see a change of approach from the Government. It is crucial that the Minister takes control of that and ensures we do not continue to be neglected which unfortunately has been the case with regard to new investments over the past number of years.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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More can be done and it should and will be done but there is no complacency, especially in the face of the Brexit challenge. It is important to recognise the improvements that have been made. I am simply pointing that out. There have been recent investment announcements which the Deputy seems to be disregarding such as the opening of the new SITA premises in Letterkenny, Optibelt Urethane Belting Limited is moving to new premises in Letterkenny with associated capital investment of €7.7 million over five years, and the expansion of Pramerica with the creation of 330 new jobs.

Of course, more can always be done. We undoubtedly need to continue to have a focus on Donegal and other regional areas. There were seven site visits by IDA Ireland to Donegal in 2016. IDA Ireland will do its utmost to encourage clients to locate in areas that are most in need of investment. At the end of the day, companies decide where they will locate having considered all the issues. Thankfully, the majority, over 71%, of jobs created last year were in regional areas outside Dublin.