Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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170. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of contacts her Department has received from companies seeking to relocate here as a result of Brexit. [27799/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The IDA, as the State Agency tasked with winning foreign direct investment (FDI), is responsible for working with companies that are considering expanding or locating in Ireland. The IDA continues to work hard to attract such new investment here, including opportunities connected to Brexit.

As I have said before, however, convincing overseas companies to invest in Ireland can be a delicate process that requires perseverance and patience. This is especially the case with regard to Brexit-related investment. It is therefore not in the country’s interests to describe or quantify, in detail, the engagement to date between the IDA and new investors or any inquiries that may have been received. In fact, to do so would risk both compromising the progress that has been made with prospective new clients of the IDA and losing the potential jobs that might accompany any such new future investment here.

I am confident that Ireland will remain attractive to new investment in the time ahead, whether Brexit-related or otherwise, and that we will continue to see significant FDI-related job creation. That is because the attributes that have made this country one of the leading global locations for FDI – including our talented workforce, first-rate education system and pro-enterprise policy environment – continue to be highly valued by multinational companies.