Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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298. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of regional IDA site visits up to the third quarter of 2018, by county; and the vacant IDA properties by county in tabular form. [47034/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, regional development is a key priority of mine and I am focused on maintaining existing jobs while also increasing the level of employment and investment in every county in Ireland. IDA Ireland continues to highlight the benefits of expanding or locating in regional areas to its client base. 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 almost 70% of all new foreign direct investment (FDI) comes from existing IDA 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 availability of an adequate supply of marketable serviced land and buildings in advance of demand is a key element in the IDA's ability to compete for mobile FDI. The availability of property solutions allows projects to begin at an earlier date by diminishing much of the difficulties associated with land acquisition, planning and construction. It is, therefore, an important means by which the IDA can encourage and attract new investors to the country and especially to regional Ireland.

The tables below respectively set out the total number of site visits by county for the first three quarters of 2018 and details on available IDA properties countrywide.

Table A: IDA Ireland site visits by County Qs 1-3, 2018

Table B: List of IDA Properties by county