Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

21. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of IDA visits to Waterford city and county in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15822/20]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There has been a significant increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in County Waterford in recent years. Since 2012, employment at overseas companies in Waterford has risen by 40%, with over 120 net new jobs created in 2019. There are now over 7,000 people employed across 36 IDA client companies in the County. I am determined, together with IDA Ireland, to increase these numbers further as best we can.

An important strength for Waterford is its hard-earned reputation as a successful home to firms from the MedTech and Pharmaceuticals sectors. Companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi and EirGen Pharma are all located there and continue to perform well. There have also been promising new investments in the County in the last 12 months – from companies such as the Emerald Contact Centre and The Agora Companies – which reflect Waterford’s wider potential across other FDI areas. This increasing diversity of profile of overseas companies there bodes well for future investment and reflects the potential of the County.

County Waterford hosted 18 site visits in 2019 and 21 site visits in 2018. There have been three site visits to Waterford as of the first quarter of this year. Information is not available on the number of visits to Waterford City as the IDA compiles such data on a county-by-county basis only.

The reduced number of site visits in 2020, as the Deputy will appreciate, is mainly attributable to the introduction of international travel restrictions related to Covid-19. Those restrictions have, amongst other things, led to the cancellation or postponement of scheduled IDA site visits and client meetings in every region of the country, including Waterford and the South-East.

Notwithstanding the difficulties presented by the pandemic, site visits do remain an important means by which the IDA can showcase regional locations – including Waterford – to prospective investors. At the same time, we must recognise that the final decision as to where to invest always rests with the overseas company concerned. It is also the case, no matter what efforts we make to underline the undoubted benefits of regional locations, that certain firms will only consider investing in large urban areas for various commercial or operational reasons.

More broadly, it’s clear the FDI will have an important role to play – both in Waterford and across Ireland – as we seek to recover from the damage caused by Covid-19. Ireland remains highly attractive to international investors and we need to continue securing new FDI projects that can create jobs and stimulate other economic activity. The IDA’s positive mid-year results, which I announced last week, reflect the resilience of the FDI base here and I will be doing everything I can to support its further growth and development, including in the South-East.