Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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109. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the specific steps being taken by the IDA to support job creation in County Limerick and the mid-west region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16191/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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This Government is committed to supporting job creation in the regions. 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. This includes County Limerick, which is marketed by the IDA as part of the Mid-West region.

The employment situation in the Mid-West, which covers Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, has been steadily improving in recent years. IDA Ireland client companies in the Mid-West created 1,481 new jobs last year, an increase of 5% over the previous year, with total employment in overseas companies in the region now at 17,787 people across 128 client companies.

Looking ahead, the IDA will continue to work with both existing and prospective clients to identify new opportunities for investment in the Mid-West. In doing so, the Agency will continue to highlight the region's strengths to overseas firms. These include the area's accessibility and the strong collaboration between industry there and Limerick's third level institutions, which has seen clusters of expertise develop in a number of sectors.

In addition, the Agency is itself investing in property solutions to help drive the growth of foreign direct investment in the region. The IDA’s €150m regional property programme, launched in 2015, includes the construction of nine new advance facilities around the country, one of which will be located in Limerick. The completion of that facility in Limerick, which will help to attract further investment there, is expected next year.