Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 186: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs created by the IDA in County Mayo in the past ten years; the location in the county of where these jobs have been created; the number of jobs the IDA is planning to create in the next three years; the location in the county where these jobs will be located; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4109/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and its regions. Data on job creation in supported companies are compiled from an annual employment survey carried out by Forfás. The breakdown of IDA Ireland employment data is available only on a regional and county basis.

County data for 2005 will not be available from IDA Ireland until the end of February. Once the data are available I will arrange that they be forwarded to the Deputy. The number of jobs created by IDA Ireland in County Mayo in each of the years 1995 to 2004, inclusive, is as set out in the following tabular statement.

It is not possible for IDA Ireland to predict the specific number of FDI jobs that will be created in the county over the next three years as ultimately decisions regarding investment and job creation are taken by supported companies and are highly dependant on global developments as various sectors expand and contract in response to market demand for goods and services, competitive forces, restructuring and technological change.

IDA Ireland has advised me that it is actively working towards maximising the level of high value sustainable FDI employment opportunities in Mayo and in the west by investing in the provision of focused property solutions to support this objective. Specifically, IDA Ireland is developing world class business and technology parks in a number of towns throughout Mayo.

A central goal for IDA Ireland is the achievement of balanced regional development. The Government's national spatial strategy provides a framework for the achievement of this goal through the prioritisation of development and investment in the gateway and hub locations. On this basis, IDA Ireland seeks to attract foreign direct investment into the gateway and hubs as well as a small number of additional locations throughout the west, particularly in Mayo through the linked hub of Ballina, Castlebar and Westport. The attraction of FDI to regional locations is not an easy task, with clients looking at Ireland often only willing to consider larger centres that have the scale, infrastructure and services capable of sustaining their investment.

IDA Ireland's sectoral emphasis is on attracting new knowledge intensive projects in the medical technologies, life sciences, information and communications technology and international services sectors. The agency is also actively working with the existing base of overseas companies in Mayo to encourage them to grow and expand. In this respect it was heartening to see the recent announcement by Advanced Medical Optics in Westport of its intention to expand its workforce in the future. I am confident that the strategies and policies being pursued by IDA Ireland, together with the ongoing commitment of Government to regional development, will bear fruit in terms of overseas investment and jobs for County Mayo.