Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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11. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department and Enterprise Ireland are reviewing current policies with a view to expanding opportunities in areas outside of the Dublin region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62265/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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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.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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Where I am coming from is that in the Cork area, the land bank IDA Ireland has in Ringaskiddy is now totally built on and there is very little space available for new companies to come in. Likewise, many of the private business parks have been developed, such as Blarney Business Park, which has seen huge growth in the past five to eight years and is running out of space. My question is about the Cork region and the identification of a land bank that could be made available for new companies to start up on or for companies coming from abroad to start up on. It is extremely important. We have had huge growth in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sectors, and in a lot of other sectors, in Cork. That is because we have the support of the third level colleges, which are producing the graduates to work in those companies. The question now is about a land bank that is needed outside Dublin for companies and we need to deal with it fast.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Burke for all his work in this area. I was with him recently in Cork. We had a great meeting looking at all the opportunities there and met many people from the community.

I will say three quick things. First, the Department is working on a scheme for small manufacturing sites for businesses. There is huge demand, particularly for manufacturing and engineering businesses, for small units. Second, Cork will be key in looking at our next generation site. We will have a next generation site in the south of Ireland and Cork would be a fantastic location. It will be over 1,000 acres. That will be where the next generation Intel, semiconductor company or life science company is. It will be important for Cork. Third, working with IDA Ireland, we are happy to work on the options. A lot of negotiations are going on about acquisition of land in that area and we will be happy to work with the Deputy and his office to try to ensure there is space for opportunity. Lead times are critical and if we can have large sites for bigger corporations, the lead times will be shorter. The sites should be utility rich so the companies can get working quickly. That will be important. Cork will be earmarked for one of those in the south.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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There is continued expansion. I visited one company recently that was doing a €60 million expansion and a number of other companies have plans to grow. The challenge is that some of them need to move to bigger sites. I welcome what the Minister said about a land bank because it is extremely important and also because of the port facility. The Ringaskiddy bypass road is now being built. It will take another two years. With the development in the Tivoli Docks area, the port facilities will move to Ringaskiddy and while land will be opening up there, it will be for residential development and other potential development. There are a lot of opportunities in Cork now. It is interesting how, by the local authorities - the city and county councils - IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Minister's Department and other Departments working together, we can make sure land is available and the infrastructure is developed so that companies can come in, create employment and grow the local economy further.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to work with the Deputy on all those areas. He has been a firm advocate for business competitiveness, which is key. In the new infrastructure proposals the Government will be bringing forward in February, it will be key to look at our ports and such authorities to ensure we are quickly able to get the key infrastructure enhancements into those areas. On the national planning framework for businesses expanding, it is key to ensuring they can do so, because there have been impediments to that in the past. Some exciting companies are expanding in the Cork area. I saw it first hand in Mallow with the Deputy recently. We met many good business owners and the chambers of commerce. We have subsequently done our best to resolve the issues they have. I spoke to the chief executive of Cork County Council subsequent to Deputy Burke's meeting. It is important we progress things in some areas where there have been blockages. We need to ensure we value employment and the risk takers. The businesses that are coming forward are key and the Deputy is a firm supporter of them in Cork.