Written answers

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

IDA Site Visits

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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108. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide on a county basis a breakdown of the number of Industrial Development Agency-sponsored visits for each year since 2010 and to date in 2014; and if he will explain the IDA's strategy to ensure there is an equitable distribution of visits among counties. [18477/14]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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109. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the context of the Industrial Development Agency’s Horizon 2020 strategy and the target that 50% of investments will be located outside Dublin and Cork, if he will provide a breakdown of the number of IDA-sponsored visits to Dublin that also visited Cork; and the number of IDA-sponsored visits to Cork that also visited Dublin since 2010. [18478/14]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 109 together.

Details of the number of IDA Ireland sponsored site visits by potential investors on a county basis from 2010 to the end of March 2014 are set out in the tabular statement below.

There have been 776 visits to Dublin and 150 visits to Cork during the period 2010 to the end of March 2014. Some companies, depending on their requirements and their sector would have visited Dublin and Cork on the same itinerary or at different stages and over a number of itineraries whilst their due diligence in respect of site location was on-going. Some would have visited Dublin only or Cork only. At present, IDA Ireland does not have a tool which could manipulate a data base into providing an instant cross reference of site visits for companies that have visited both Dublin and Cork.

It must be acknowledged that some regional locations outside of Dublin and the main urban centres already facilitate the presence of a large number of multinational companies who have invested over the years, span multiple sectors and employ significant amounts of people. A significant opportunity for regional locations is in respect of the existing client base and potential further investment opportunities from same. Approximately 70% of all FDI investments won by IDA Ireland is from the existing client base. I should also point out that 72,500 people, roughly 44% of the total employment in IDA Ireland’s base of companies including those that were former clients of Shannon Development, are located outside of Dublin and Cork.

Under the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are working with my Department to develop a framework for a Regional Enterprise Strategy to better integrate the efforts of enterprise agencies and the other regional stakeholders in building enterprise based on sustainable competitive advantage of the region. This exercise will complement the in-depth analysis of our FDI strategy which is currently being undertaken by Forfás and which will take account of factors such as key trends emerging in FDI best practice internationally, Ireland’s strengths in attracting FDI and any changes to the EU’s State Aid Rules, which will come into effect on 1 July 2014. The results of these two exercises will form the basis of IDA Ireland’s strategy from 2015 onwards.

Table showing the number of IDA Ireland sponsored site visits on a county by county basis from 2010 to the end of March 2014

County
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Carlow
3
2
4
1
0
Cavan
3
0
3
2
1
Clare
7
15
14
5
2
Cork
44
27
38
31
10
Donegal
4
2
1
7
2
Dublin
197
150
196
180
53
Galway
41
35
18
15
4
Kerry
2
2
1
1
0
Kildare
2
3
1
1
0
Kilkenny
0
0
3
3
1
Laois
0
2
0
2
0
Leitrim
0
0
0
1
0
Limerick
38
40
30
23
6
Longford
0
0
0
0
0
Louth
25
26
12
4
3
Mayo
1
0
1
3
0
Meath
0
2
0
1
1
Monaghan
0
1
0
1
0
Offaly
7
1
3
1
0
Roscommon
0
0
0
4
0
Sligo
12
3
6
10
3
Tipperary
1
1
5
4
0
Waterford
11
11
26
14
0
Westmeath
22
15
7
9
1
Wexford
1
0
3
2
0
Wicklow
5
3
6
1
2

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