Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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307. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the funding awarded to companies by the IDA in 2017 and to date in 2018, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52934/18]

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. 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 table below 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.