Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way in which she plans to attract more foreign direct investment to County Leitrim and the regions; the way in which she further plans to help indigenous firms establish and grow in these areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22891/18]

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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How does the Minister of State intend to attract more foreign direct investment to Leitrim and the regions and what is his plan to ensure that indigenous Irish businesses establish and grow in these areas and offset the reliance on foreign direct investment? I know the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is absent because she is meeting a delegation at the Border to demonstrate the impact of Brexit. As a Border county, Leitrim will be particularly impacted upon by Brexit. We need a new emphasis on bringing foreign direct investment to the region and supporting indigenous business.

The Minister of State is from County Clare. The business model relating to Shannon Development works well. We need to extend that to all rural areas country where there is potential to grow jobs and build industry.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Martin Kenny for his question. He he is representing his county well. The Government is committed to supporting job creation and investment in the regions. This remains a key priority. That is why my Department and its agencies are working towards ambitious targets to ensure that employment and investment are distributed as evenly as possible across the country, including in County Leitrim.

The north east-north west action plan for jobs is a key policy response for supporting employment growth in the Border region. The plan is stimulating job creation across the region by facilitating collaborative initiatives between the public and private sector and through the provision of new competitive funds awarded through Enterprise Ireland to support regional enterprise projects.

There are currently five IDA Ireland client companies employing 889 people in Leitrim. Employment in these five companies has increased steadily over the years, with 283 additional jobs being created between 2013 and 2017. The increase in employment highlights the work undertaken by IDA Ireland in partnering with its existing client base to help evolve operations and to identify new areas of opportunity in order that they can sustain a long-term presence in the country.

As well as engaging with current clients in Leitrim, IDA Ireland is also working hard to identify new investment opportunities for the county and the north west. This is line with the agency's five-year strategy and goal to increase investment in every region of Ireland by 20% to 30% by 2019. IDA Ireland's staff are continuing to highlight the benefits of areas like Leitrim to investors and the advantages for overseas companies in locating there.

Our collective efforts to increase investment and job creation in the north-west region, which includes Sligo and Donegal, are aided by the strong base of foreign direct investment currently located in those counties by overseas companies in the region. As the Deputy knows, employment has been steadily growing over the years. Last year, for example, IDA Ireland client companies in the north west created 330 new jobs, bringing total foreign direct investment, FDI, employment up to 6,462 people across 40 client companies.

FDI, represents only one part of our wider efforts to generate economic growth in regional locations. Indigenous enterprise also plays a crucial role in creating employment opportunities. Enterprise Ireland plays a key role in supporting companies in areas such as Leitrim to innovate and remain competitive in international markets. In 2017, 559 people were employed across 25 Enterprise Ireland supported companies in the county. In addition, Enterprise Ireland paid €1.6 million to client companies based in Leitrim between 2015 and 2017.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The LEO in Leitrim also provides financial assistance, guidance and other supports for anyone who intends to start or grow their own business. It can offer direct grant aid to microenterprises in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors which, over time, have the potential to develop into strong export entities. In 2017, the Leitrim LEO supported the creation of 39 new jobs with 101 clients participating in LEO mentoring programmes and 571 clients availing of LEO training programmes.

We have made progress in creating new economic opportunities in Leitrim but we are determined to achieve more. That is why we will continue to focus on regional development and explore how we can create new job and investment opportunities for the people of the County and the wider area.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad to hear the answer from the Minister of State. It is good to see that there is a focus from the Government on delivering jobs in the regions. We have heard that before. However, the reality in places like counties Leitrim and Roscommon and other areas in the north and west is quite different. Last year, 89 jobs were created in Leitrim by companies supported by IDA Ireland., less than 0.5% of the total number of IDA Ireland jobs created throughout the country in 2017. The Minister of State can understand why people in County Leitrim feel left out. Figures from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that 5,467 people were on the live register in Sligo and Leitrim last month. I know there are various initiatives to get people back to work, but the problem is that in many cases the jobs do not exist. That need to be recognised.

I appreciate that many companies have to make their own decisions about where they go. We know that when large companies such as Bank of America MBNA came to Carrick-on-Shannon many years ago it was because of a local connection, namely, a person from Leitrim who worked for the company abroad and got it to come here. In many cases, that is what we are depending on but we need to depend on more than that. I would like to know that the Government has a plan with incentives and initiatives to attract FDI companies to go to the places with the most potential in rural areas of the country. The production economics are much better in rural areas. There is cheaper housing and everything else is cheaper for people to live and work. Companies have an opportunity to prosper and develop those areas. I would like the Government to do something to incentivise that.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Leitrim is a little like Clare. My county is sandwiched between Galway and Limerick and Leitrim is sandwiched between Donegal and Sligo. I have visited Leitrim in my role as Minister of State and I have seen at first hand the operations of fantastic indigenous companies such as VistaMed, which employs over 400 people.

There are brewery companies such as the Carrig Brewing Company, as well as companies such as Cora Systems and Prior PLM Medical, which were with me on a trade mission. Then, of course, there is the famous distillery in Drumshanbo, The Shed Distillery . There is a lot happening in County Leitrim in the indigenous area. In the FDI area, there are some really good companies in County Leitrim, such as Avantcard, which has 160 employees and MCi, which has 200 employees in Manorhamilton.

For counties such as Leitrim, it is a combination of both indigenous micro-enterprises and IDA Ireland jobs. What is important is to keep trying to attract jobs into the regions. If one looks at the track record of IDA Ireland, last year alone it created more than 10,000 jobs, with 45% of those outside the greater Dublin area. I assure Deputy Martin Kenny that we are working hard to ensure County Leitrim is very much part of the overall picture for balanced regional development.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Martin Kenny should be proud of the companies in County Leitrim. We want to do more and will do more with the agencies to ensure that Leitrim's job numbers grows.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Martin Kenny's final supplementary.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Can I say one word on this before I finish?

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Others are waiting.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Between 2013 and 2017, the level of jobs-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State will have another minute.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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-----has increased by 46% in County Leitrim. That, in itself, is a sign of success.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We will have to observe the times. Others are waiting.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am aware of and acknowledge that, but much of it is not driven by Government incentive or initiatives. It is driven by the companies themselves who are developing and working. What my party is saying is there needs to be more effort made to help those companies, and particularly the indigenous industries.

Brexit is looming and many of our indigenous industries are fearful. The small companies that are exporting are fearful about finding new markets and finding a way around this Brexit problem and the Government needs to do more about that.

Sinn Féin also has proposed the establishment of co-operative development units aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of co-operatives and increasing the number of such enterprises across the island. What does the Government intend to do in that area? That model has worked well in other European countries, where small private companies work together to build up co-operatives where they can develop, produce more jobs, produce more industry and move forward. We need to be doing that. Those models need to be employed in places such as County Leitrim and in the regions in general.

One of the big problems we have in the regions is the absence of infrastructure. Our roads are poor, access to the area is poor and broadband is a considerable problem. Ireland needs to be more than just a haven for some corporations to hide money. It needs to be a genuine tech haven where we can provide technical jobs. If we have adequate infrastructure and adequate broadband, we can be the centre of the universe no matter where we are. That is what we need to bring to every part of rural Ireland. I would welcome a Government commitment to do that and to work on the area of co-operation between companies.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Martin Kenny talked about the co-operative movement. The Deputy needs to focus on the local enterprise offices, LEOs, which play an important role throughout the country in assisting companies to start up and entrepreneurs. In County Leitrim last year, they created 39 new jobs. I visited the LEO office in Carrick-on-Shannon at Leitrim County Council and I have seen for myself at first hand what it offers and the assistance it gives to help micro-enterprises, such as manufacturing companies and people with ideas up there. The Deputy himself can see the success of that in the brewing companies, the distillery companies and the food sector companies that have started off in that area. Small micro-enterprises are extremely important for regional areas where one will not get FDI. We can bring FDI companies into Ireland to have a look at counties such as Leitrim but in the end, where they want to set up is a decision for the company itself.

I take on board what Deputy Martin Kenny is saying but I ask him to acknowledge the work that is being done in Leitrim by the local enterprise offices, EI and IDA Ireland. The local enterprise offices have 101 clients participating in the mentoring programme.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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There are 571 clients availing of LEO training. There is much progress being made in the economic opportunities in Leitrim. The Government is determined to do a lot more here and the focus will continue on regional development to explore how we can create new job opportunities-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I have to move on.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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-----for the people of Leitrim and the wider area, which must also be taken into account.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I remind the House that 23 minutes are gone and we have only answered two questions.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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We asked two questions. There were no answers.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The House got good answers.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The guidelines are two minutes and one minute and I ask the Minister of State and Members to observe that.