Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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94. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the facilities available to the Industrial Development Agency Ireland for job creation purposes in Tallaght in Dublin 24; the number of official visits by personnel of the agency to Tallaght since February 2011; the number of official visits by agency sponsored prospective foreign enterprises to Tallaght since February 2011; the number of concerns currently pursuing the possibility of locating their enterprises in Tallaght; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35677/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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IDA Ireland has two facilities in its ownership which are located in Tallaght. One facility is currently leased to a company called Meridian and the remaining facility is under contract to sell to an Enterprise Ireland client. In addition, I have been informed by IDA Ireland that there are a variety of privately owned property solutions in Tallaght which include offices and industrial units. The Agency has assured me that they are happy to show the facilities to future potential clients who require premises for investment in the area.

Information in relation to IDA Ireland sponsored site visits by potential investors is provided on a county basis only. I am informed by IDA Ireland that from 2011 to the end of June 2015 there were 827 IDA Ireland-sponsored site visits by potential investors to Dublin City and County. These visits were from new companies visiting the location for the first time and also from senior executives of existing client companies. It must be remembered that the final decision on where to visit and where to locate are made by the investor. Details of the number of these site visits during this period are set out in the attached tabular statement.

At the end of2014, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 596 IDA Ireland-supported companies in Dublin employing 70,989people. IDA Ireland works closely with these companies to ensure their long term sustainability and to encourage their growth, development and continuing re-investment in their sites.

As is evidenced with IDA Ireland investment announcements over the past number of years, a significant number locate in Dublin so it is reasonable to expect that this trend will continue.

A typical example of the type of investment which was announced in the City West area of Dublin in 2015 includes the announcement in September by Google that they will begin construction of a new data centre in West Dublin which will create 400 jobs during this period. This announcement builds on previous investments announced in 2014 by Aspen, Alexion and SAP.

I am confident that these investments will have a positive impact directly and indirectly on job creation in the greater Dublin area which includes Tallaght.

While significant progress has been made in supporting job creation and in reducing unemployment rates in all regions of the country this Government is not complacent about the challenge of achieving sustainable full employment over the medium term, in all regions including Dublin. As part of the 2015 Action Plan for Jobs we launched the process for developing Action Plans for every region and the work on the preparation of the Dublin Action Plan for Jobs is currently commencing. Two areas of particular focus will be how we can generate future entrepreneurship and investment in manufacturing and services sectors of the economy.

Table shows the total number of IDA Ireland sponsored site visits by potential investors to County Dublin since 2011 to the end of June 2015.