Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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525. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of companies supported by the IDA by country of origin in tabular form; her views on whether there is an over-reliance on any one country; the measures she is taking to reduce this over-reliance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35898/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Ireland remains a global leader in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) with 1,384 multinational companies from over 40 countries choosing to invest here. The following table outlines the number of IDA-supported companies by country of origin. American firms account for the largest share of multinationals with 753 companies.

The IDA has made significant progress in diversifying their portfolio of client companies that invest here.  There were, for example, 111 new name investments in 2017, an increase of 12% compared to 2016 which saw 99 new name investments.

The IDA is working hard to avail of new opportunities from our non-traditional target markets. This includes seeking new investors from the Middle East, Africa and across Asia.  I am particularly encouraged by the progress made in recent times in securing investment from countries like China, South Korea and India. This shows that the concerted effort that the IDA has made in growing investment from Asia is producing results in terms of new jobs here on the ground in Ireland.

While much has been accomplished in this context, the Government remains conscious of our need to continue attracting FDI from as many different countries as possible. To diversify investment here further, we need to build awareness of Ireland as a preferred investment destination in target countries, as well as improve competitiveness and consolidate Ireland’s traditional strengths in terms of talent, productivity and ease of doing business. I am confident that this approach will help boost further the number of investors here from non-traditional markets and that we will continue to see greater geographic diversity across the IDA's client portfolio.