Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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90. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits to County Laois for each of the past three years; the number of visits to date in 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33049/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to regional development and my Department and its Agencies are working towards ambitious targets to ensure that employment and investment are as fairly distributed as possible across the country. In June 2015, my Department published a Midlands Regional Enterprise Strategy as part of the Action Plan for Jobs. Good progress is being made but I know that more remains to be done, especially in counties like Laois.

County Laois is marketed by IDA Ireland as part of the Midlands region, together with Counties Westmeath, Longford and Offaly. In total, there are 30 multinational companies based in the Midlands, employing 4,280 people. There are 115 people employed by those IDA Ireland client companies based in Laois itself.

Site visits represent one tool through which the IDA has sought to encourage more investment in Laois. There were ten such visits to the County across 2015 and 2016, which ultimately led to the creation of 28 new IDA Ireland supported jobs. The following table sets out the details of these visits from 2013 to Q1 2017. The Agency continues to promote Laois as an investment location to overseas companies and I am hopeful that further jobs will be created there by IDA clients in the future.

Laois is also part of the Midlands Region for the purposes of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs. As part of this Action Plan the Laois Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is currently advancing three projects - which are in receipt of approximately €230,000 of funding through the LEO Competitive Fund - that will variously support the growth of micro-enterprises, innovation in small firms and job creation. These projects should help to collectively foster further enterprise and employment growth in the County.

Sites visits to Laois 2013 - Q1 2017