Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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79. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the level of IDA funding, job creation and employment gains in counties Galway and Roscommon from 2015 to 2017 and to date in 2018, by county in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50332/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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 Counties Galway and Roscommon, which the IDA markets as part of the West region.

There are approximately 19,000 people employed in 85 foreign direct investment companies across Galway and Roscommon. From 2015 to 2017, FDI employment in Galway increased by 15% with 2,329 net new jobs added. In Roscommon meanwhile, FDI employment increased by 13% with 134 new jobs added by IDA client companies in the same period. Information on the number of jobs created in 2018 will not be available until my Department carries out its Annual Employment Survey (AES) at the end of this year.

The IDA is authorised by my Department to provide a range of financial supports to its client companies 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. From 2015 to 2017, IDA Ireland paid a total of €39,650,095 to its client companies in Galway and €918,500 to its clients in Roscommon. Grant payment figures are released on an annual basis and information on the total paid to IDA client companies in 2018 will be made available once they have been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The IDA continues to promote Galway and Roscommon to a range of potential investors in order to encourage further investment and job creation. As part of that effort, the IDA regularly engages with key stakeholders on the ground in both counties, including with local authorities, public bodies, the education sector and companies from both its own client base but also from the indigenous sector.

While we have made progress in helping to generate new economic opportunities in Galway and Roscommon, we are determined to achieve more. That is why we are working hard, across Government, to further unlock the economic potential of the region. The Enterprise Agencies remain pivotal to this and they continue to engage with their clients, and with one another, to create jobs and source new investment for the area.

The following tables provide a breakdown of grants paid by IDA Ireland to its client companies in both counties and employment figures there for the period between 2015-2017.

Table A: IDA Ireland Grants Paid to Client Companies in Galway and Roscommon 2015-2017

Table B: Total IDA Ireland Employment Data in Galway and Roscommon 2015-2017