Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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133. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the most recent occasion on which IDA Ireland visited counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath; the number of new jobs that have been created by the IDA in the past 12 months; the steps it is taking to attract companies to the counties; the success it has had with the strategy for the counties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17935/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Regional development, not just in the Border area but across Ireland, remains a key priority. Together with my Department and its enterprise Agencies, I am focused on strengthening investment and job creation all over the country. 

The annual results of the IDA demonstrate that we are making significant progress. In 2018, for example, 56% of all net new jobs created by the Agency were in locations outside Dublin. Similarly, every region in Ireland, including the Border Region, posted net gains in jobs last year. There are now over 132,000 people employed across 681 firms in IDA client companies outside the capital. In fact, 58% of all IDA-supported employment is now outside of Dublin. This represents the highest number of people employed in the regions by IDA clients in the Agency’s history.    

While there were no new foreign direct investment (FDI) supported jobs created in Cavan in 2018, Monaghan experienced an 8% increase in FDI employment, with 12 jobs added by companies in the County.  Similarly, Meath saw a 4.5% increase in IDA supported employment, with the creation of 67 new jobs last year.

Since this question was last raised by the Deputy, IDA Ireland has released the site visit data for the first quarter of 2019 and Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath have each hosted one site visit so far this year. In 2018, County Meath reported a twofold increase in site visits with six visits last year. County Cavan hosted two site visits, whilst there were three site visits to County Monaghan, compared to one visit in 2017.

As the Deputy is also aware, as part of Budget 2019, I allocated an additional €10m for the next phase of the IDA Regional Property Programme (RPP). The RPP includes plans for an Advanced Technology Unit (ATU) at Knockaconny, County Monaghan and a design and delivery team has been appointed for this Unit.

The IDA has a dedicated regional manager for the North East/North West Region and an office in the Cavan Innovation and Technology Centre. As part of its strategy to promote the area, it is focusing on sectors including agrifood, manufacturing, tourism and internationally traded services. The Agency's staff regularly engage with key stakeholders on the ground in Cavan and Monaghan, including with local authorities, public bodies, the education sector and companies from both its own client base but also from the indigenous sector. County Meath, meanwhile, is being actively marketed by the IDA as a location for second sites for multinationals in the Dublin region, with a focus on building clusters in existing sectors like high-value manufacturing and international services.

We are working hard, across Government, to further unlock the economic potential of all counties including those in the Border. The Enterprise Agencies under my remit will continue to engage with their clients, and with one another, to create more jobs and source new investment in 2019.