Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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319. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits by prospective clients by county in each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48090/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I am focused on doing everything I can to deliver the fairest possible spread of foreign direct investment (FDI) across the country. Creating more jobs in the regions in particular is a clear priority for both my Department and the IDA.

Since 2015, IDA Ireland has been working towards regional development targets set out in their strategy for the period between 2015-2019. This includes a goal of increasing investment in every region of Ireland by 30%-40%.  Real progress is being made towards that objective. In 2017, for example, 45% of all jobs created were based outside of Dublin.  The Agency is working hard to increase that percentage further for 2018 and beyond.

IDA Ireland continues to highlight the benefits of expanding or locating in all counties of Ireland 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 FDI comes from existing IDA client companies. 

The Government has taken a number of positive steps to increase FDI in the regions and the IDA’s Regional Property Programme is important in encouraging more FDI into regional locations. As part of Budget 2019, I was pleased to announce an allocation of €10m to the next phase of that Programme on top of the €150m that was announced when it was launched in 2015. Project Ireland 2040 names the Border and Midlands regions as priority areas for this Programme, and so the funding will be used to start building advanced facilities in a number of regional locations, including in Carlow, Dundalk, Monaghan, Sligo, Athlone, Waterford, Limerick and Galway.

The following table sets out the number of IDA Ireland site visits to each County from 2013 to 2017, as well as for the first three quarters of 2018.  

Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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320. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the investment provided by the IDA to its client companies by county in each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48095/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As Minister, my objective is to create the best possible environment for enterprise, entrepreneurship, innovation and investment. Ireland continues to perform very strongly in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and encouraging further investment from multinational companies is a major priority of mine.  I am pleased to say that there are now over 210,000 people employed in IDA Ireland client companies here, the highest in the State's history. 

However, we must recognise that global competition for FDI is increasing all the time, and we must therefore work harder than ever to retain and promote our competitive advantages and to secure new investment projects.  That means improving, if possible, on our already compelling and attractive offering for multinationals to invest here. The IDA is authorised by my Department to provide a range of financial supports in the form of employment, capital, research and development, environmental and training grants. These grants are an important means of encouraging companies to invest in Ireland, particularly in regional locations.  

The following table provides a breakdown of grants paid by IDA Ireland to its client companies between 2013 and 2017. The figure provided for Dublin includes payments to the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT). Grant payment figures are released on an annual basis and I have been informed by the IDA that information on the total of grants paid to client companies in 2018 will be made available once they have been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. 

It is important to note that grants paid in a particular year are not necessarily linked to either the investments won or the jobs created in that 12-month period. Grants are generally drawn down over the lifetime of a project which is normally over a period of three to five years. Some investments which result in job creation may not be grant aided and some well-established firms may no longer be receiving grant payments.