Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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304. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits of prospective clients to each county in each of the years 2013 to 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7060/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The IDA remains committed to increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) in every region of Ireland by 30% to 40% by the end of the Agency's current strategy in 2019. Progress is being made towards that target, with half of all jobs created in the first three years of that strategy based outside of Dublin.

IDA Ireland continues to highlight the benefits of expanding or locating in the regions to its client base and it makes every effort to ensure that FDI is spread as widely as possible across the country. It is important to remember, however, that the final decision as to where to invest always rests with the company concerned. It is also the case that site visit activity does not necessarily reflect investment potential, as at least 70% of all new FDI comes from existing IDA Ireland client companies.

Site visits nevertheless do represent an important tool through which investors can be encouraged to invest in regional areas and the IDA always does its utmost to ensure that investors consider all potential locations when visiting Ireland.

The following table outlines IDA Ireland site visits by county from 2013 to 2017.