Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise concerns, as I have done on many occasions, about the number of IDA visits to the western region. I have the figures relating to County Roscommon. I am aware that there were no visits in the first quarter of 2018 while there was one visit in quarter 2 and one visit in quarter 3.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, I strongly believe that the IDA is not doing enough to prioritise areas such as Roscommon and east Galway in terms of ensuring we get our fair share with regard to job creation. I say this in the context of a medical devices company in Castlerea called Harmac Medical Products. The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation visited this company last July. It employs 300 people and is a really important employer in west Roscommon. I say that because it is critical that this company be used as a blueprint in terms of the benefits that an IDA-based company can create for rural communities and towns such as Castlerea.

I ask that we would have a debate in the House with regard to how closely the IDA is working with potential investors in terms of trying to attract them to the western region, particularly to offset the pressures in Galway city and encourage them to set up in towns across County Roscommon and the likes of Ballinasloe in east Galway. There is so much opportunity. It offers a fantastic quality of life. Harmac Medical Products is celebrating 25 years in operation. It is a very good example of where an IDA-based company can be very much rooted in the community and be on a very solid footing to deliver top-class medical device products. It is undergoing further expansion. I would like to know what the IDA is doing in our region and I would like the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation to address the Seanad in an effort to understand fully what is being done to promote our area.