Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are achieving real results in encouraging greater investment in County Mayo.The number of people on the live register in Mayo has fallen by 6,124 or 47% compared with February 2012 when we launched the first Action Plan for Jobs. Employment in IDA-supported companies in Mayo has increased year on year since 2012, with a 37% increase in foreign direct investment, FDI, employment in the country from 2012 to 2018. The number of people employed in Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs in Mayo has also increased by more than 55% since 2011. Just last week, I announced the local enterprise office results for Mayo with 130 net new jobs created in 2018.

In terms of Project Ireland 2040, I know that under the urban regeneration fund more than €3.2 million has been allocated for the development of the Ballina Innovation Quarter, which I know the Senator has welcomed. That will be a major boost for Ballina. The Senator has been a great supporter of that project, which she has highlighted to me on a number of occasions. I was delighted she was with us for the launch of the regional enterprise plans for the west last week. Those plans are all about supporting regional development through collaborative, ground-up proposals.

I see great potential for the regional steering groups who will oversee the implementation of each plan to come up with very good projects of scale which we, as a Government, can support under the various Project Ireland 2040 funds, whether it is rural or urban regeneration, disruptive technologies or the climate fund. There is also my Department's regional enterprise development fund that I plan to launch in the coming months.

I would like to see more projects like the Ballina Innovation Quarter being replicated throughout the country because it is a very good project. I want to emphasise that creating jobs in the regions is a priority for both IDA Ireland and my Department. I am focused on doing everything I can to deliver the fairest possible spread of investment.

In 2018, IDA Ireland recorded its highest number of jobs created in the region in 17 years. Every facility has been completed under the regional property programme, and the Senator is right in saying that every one of them is occupied now.