Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

251. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA site visits in each county in the first quarter of 2019, by county in tabular form. [17263/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

IDA Ireland hosted 159 site visits as of the first quarter of 2019, with almost 65% of these visits taking place in regional locations. 

Whilst site visits are an important tool in helping showcase regional locations to investors, it is important to remember - as I have made clear before - that the final decision as to where to invest rests solely with the company concerned. It is also the case that site visit activity does not necessarily reflect investment potential, as a significant proportion of all new foreign direct investment (FDI) comes from existing IDA clients already present in the country.

More broadly, creating more jobs in the regions will remain a top priority for both the IDA and my Department in 2019 as we seek to build on the progress made over the last number of years. In 2018, for example, the IDA delivered 113 regional investments with 56% of net new jobs created outside Dublin. The last four years have seen 44,500 new FDI-driven jobs generated outside the capital.

The following table details the number of IDA site visits to each county in quarter 1 of 2019.