Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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270. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of site visits conducted by the IDA in County Galway in each of the past three years; the number of these visits that were to locations in Galway city and county respectively, by area, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8606/18]

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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271. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of site visits conducted by the IDA in counties Limerick and Cork in each of the past three years; and the number of these visits that were to locations in the two cities and other areas of those counties respectively, in tabular form. [8607/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 271 together.

This Government remains strongly committed to regional development. My Department and its agencies are working towards ambitious targets to ensure that employment and investment are distributed as evenly as possible across the country, including in Counties Cork, Galway and Limerick.

IDA Ireland always does its best to highlight suitable sites in regional areas to potential investors. It is sometimes the case, however, that IDA clients will have specific requirements that may preclude certain locations. It is important to remember as well that the final decision on where to invest always rests with the company concerned.

Site visits are also not necessarily indicative of the potential for foreign direct investment in an area, as at least 70% of all new investment comes from existing IDA clients that are already present in Ireland.

IDA Ireland collates data for site visits at a county level only so information is not available on visits to particular cities. The table below sets out the number of site visits to Counties Cork, Galway and Limerick over the past three years.