Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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525. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will ensure that the number of site visits from the IDA in south Kildare is increased in 2017. [40565/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Regional development is a top priority of mine and will remain so in 2017. Increasing and sustaining foreign direct investment (FDI) for areas such as County Kildare forms a vital part of this.

This Government’s commitment to regional development is reflected in IDA Ireland’s strategy for 2015-2019, which targets an increase of 30-40% in FDI in every region outside of Dublin. Site visit statistics indicate that progress is being made towards this goal, with 58% of site visits this year made outside of the capital.

These site visit statistics are only maintained by IDA Ireland on a county by county and quarterly basis. As of the end of quarter three, there have been seven site visits by potential investors to County Kildare this year. It is important to note, however, that site visits are not necessarily an accurate measure of the level of FDI activity in a region or county. This is partly because approximately 70% of all investment won by IDA Ireland comes from its existing client base, rather than new companies.

It should also be emphasised that, while IDA Ireland actively encourages its clients to locate or expand in regional locations, ultimately the final decision always rests with the company concerned.