Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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157. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the most recent occasion on which the IDA visited counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath; the number of new jobs that have been created by the IDA in the past 12 months; the steps it is taking to attract companies to the counties; the success it has had with the strategy for the counties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40232/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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IDA Ireland continues to highlight the benefits of expanding or locating in all of our regions, including in Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath. There are over 122,000 people employed across 649 firms in IDA client companies located outside of Dublin, with 45% of all new foreign direct investment (FDI) jobs created last year based in regional locations.

Employment numbers for 2018 will not be available until my Department's Annual Employment Survey is carried out in November 2018. Site visits are collated by the IDA on a county-by-county basis only and are released every quarter. Information on the number of site visits on particular dates to specific locations is therefore unavailable. Last year, IDA client companies conducted three site visits to County Meath, two site visits to County Cavan, one site visit to County Monaghan. The trend for site visits this year are positive with four site visits to County Meath, one visit to County Cavan and one site visit to County Monaghan as of the second quarter of 2018. Site visit activity, however, does not necessarily reflect investment potential, as at least 70% of all new FDI comes from existing IDA client companies.

IDA Ireland is working hard to promote Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath to potential investors. The Agency has a dedicated regional manager for the North East/North West Region and has an office in the Cavan Innovation and Technology Centre. As part of its strategy to encourage investment to the area, it is focusing on sectors including agri-food, manufacturing, tourism and internationally traded services. County Meath is being actively marketed by the IDA as a location for second sites for multinationals in the Dublin region, with a focus on building clusters in existing sectors like high-value manufacturing and international services.

The IDA also regularly engages with key stakeholders on the ground in Cavan, Monaghan and Meath, including with local authorities, public bodies, the education sector and companies from both its own client base but also from the indigenous sector. IDA Ireland also owns sites in all three counties that are being actively marketed to its clients.

It is important to emphasise that FDI only forms one part of investment in regional locations. Indigenous enterprise is responsible for a significant portion of employment growth, especially outside Dublin. My Department and all its agencies, including Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs, work together constantly and collaboratively to ensure that jobs and investment are spread as fairly as possible across this country.

I am pleased to say that Enterprise Ireland (EI) supported companies employed 5,451 people in Cavan and 5,366 people Monaghan in 2017. This is an increase of approximately 4% in both counties compared to 2016. Total employment in EI supported companies in County Meath now stands at 7,302, an increase of over 4% compared to the previous year. In May of this year, EI facilitated a meeting of Local Enterprise Office (LEO) and EI engineering companies from Meath and Cavan with a view to creating an engineering cluster in the region.

Companies supported by the Cavan LEO employed a total of 1,252 people in 2017, representing a net increase of 100 jobs over the previous year. The Monaghan LEO employed 1,052 people in 2017, representing a net increase of 142 jobs over the previous year. The Meath LEO employed 1,112 people in 2017, which is a net increase of 162 jobs over the previous year. These numbers clearly reflect the growing domestic industries which are so important to these counties.

We recognise that there is room for improvement in Cavan, Monaghan and Meath and we are working hard, across Government, to further unlock the economic potential of these counties. The Enterprise Agencies under my remit will continue to engage with their clients, and with one another, to create jobs and source new investment for these regions.