Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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205. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the context of the extra £12 million sanctioned for the Industrial Development Agency Ireland property programme, the amount that will be invested in a site (details supplied) in County Mayo, the amount invested to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43799/15]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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206. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if locations (details supplied) in County Mayo and in County Meath were considered by the Industrial Development Agency Ireland as sites for the new-build projects under the regional property programme, if so, the reason they were not proceeded with at this time, if not, the reason for same, given their employment profile; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43800/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 205 and 206 together.

Regional development is fundamental to IDA Ireland’s new strategy for the next five years, titled ‘Winning – Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019’, which was launched earlier this year. For the first time, ambitious investment targets have been set for each region, with a strong focus on securing a significant uplift in the number of investments. Central to this is a driving ambition for employment growth throughout all regions over the lifetime of this strategy.

As part of IDA Ireland’s commitment to achieve a significant uplift in the amount of FDI projects going into regions, the strategy outlines key actions aimed at achieving that, including a €150m property investment plan, spread out over five years, which will support the achievement of the organisation's regional goals. The funding which includes the €12 million referred to by the Deputy 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. About 30% of the property investment plan will be allocated to the construction of nine advance facilities.

These sites were decided on by IDA Ireland based on a number of criteria including population density, cluster of activities of other companies in the area and third level educational institutions. It is important to note that all investment must be targeted to potential investment wins and associated job creation opportunities.

IDA Ireland has decided to concentrate the investment programme in particular in locations where the private sector has been reluctant to build capacity suitable premises for FDI. In that context, the Government announced earlier this year that three locations, Sligo, Tralee and Castlebar, located in Co. Mayo would be the key focus for the 2015 investment programme.

In this respect, planning permission was sought and has been obtained for facilities in Sligo and Castlebar. The procurement process is underway to appoint contractors to construct these facilities and it is anticipated that this process will be complete and contractors will be on-site by year end. It is planned to submit a planning application during December 2015 to construct a facility in Tralee. IDA Ireland plans in 2016 to follow a similar process to deliver facilities in Galway, Dundalk and Limerick and in Athlone, Carlow and Waterford in 2017.

The Agency has approximately 11 hectares of land on the Sligo Road, Ballina, Co. Mayo, which are zoned and concept master planned with planning permission obtained for core park infrastructure development. These lands are included in the Agency’s database of available lands for marketing to FDI client companies or EI client companies as appropriate.

In addition, IDA Ireland has approximately 27 hectares of land on the Navan Business Park available for marketing to FDI client companies or EI clients as appropriate.