Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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290. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of the ten visits arranged by the Industrial Development Agency to County Westmeath that were in Mullingar; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25792/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by IDA Ireland that information in relation to sponsored site visits by potential investors is provided on a county by county basis only and that in the first quarter of 2015, IDA Ireland sponsored 10 site visits by potential investors to County Westmeath. For reasons of commercial sensitivity and client confidentiality IDA Ireland does not comment on upcoming site visits by potential investors.

Westmeath is marketed as part of the Midlands Region which also comprises counties Longford, Laois and Offaly.

Earlier this year IDA Ireland launched its 5 year strategy for the period 2015 to 2019 which aims to create 80,000 new jobs in the economy over the period and increase investment into each region by between 30% and 40%. Additionally, a €150 million property investment plan, spread out over five years, will support the achievement of the organisation’s regional goals. The funding will be used to upgrade Ireland’s Business and Technology parks, make investments in a number of strategic utility-intensive sites and build new advanced technology buildings in a number of regional locations. An advanced office building is planned for 2017 for Co. Westmeath as part of the programme.

In February, the Government announced details of the Action Plan for Jobs: Regionalinitiative which seeks to capitalise on the strengths and assets of each region to maximise enterprise growth and job creation. The initiative will build on the success of the National Action Plan for Jobs, and encourage regional stakeholders - including enterprise agencies, Local Authorities, higher education institutions, other public bodies and the private sector - to come forward with innovative ideas to boost job creation in their own region.

In total, eight regional Action Plans will be developed and published this year. The first of these plans for the Midlands region covering counties Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath was launched on Monday 29th June. This plan sets out almost 120 actions aimed to deliver enhanced employment growth in the region over the coming years with a target of increasing employment in the region by 10-15 % by 2020. IDA has been tasked with attracting 25-30 additional FDI investment projects into the region over the next 5 years while Enterprise Ireland is to increase the number of start-ups by 25% by increasing their flow of start-up companies through enterprise hubs and onto Enterprise Ireland’s competitive programmes. The overall ambition of the Action Plan for Jobs – Midland Region is to increase employment by approximately 14,000 by 2020.