Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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73. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the efforts his Department in conjunction with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland are making to attract new companies to County Clare. [34719/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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County Clare continues to be a strong performer in terms of attracting both indigenous and foreign direct investment (FDI). There are now 67 IDA client companies in County Clare employing over 7,100 people with over 220 net new jobs added by foreign direct investment (FDI) firms in 2019. Clare is home to a number of particularly prominent multinationals - such as Axa, Beckman Coulter and Edwards Lifesciences - that continue to perform well. In recent years, we've seen a number of significant investments being announced by IDA client companies including MeiraGTx, Extreme Networks, Jaguar Land Rover and most recently, Exida.  

Enterprise Ireland continues to play a critical role in supporting domestic industries in County Clare. There are now over 4,300 people employed across almost 140 firms backed by Enterprise Ireland with over 200 net new jobs added in 2019.

The IDA has a number of incentives in place to encourage companies to invest in regional locations. In addition to the general support that it provides to client firms through advice and expertise on investing in Ireland, the Agency is authorised by my Department to provide a range of particular financial supports in the form of employment, capital, research and development, environmental and training grants. These grants represent an important means of encouraging companies to invest in Ireland, particularly to regional locations and this includes counties adjacent to Dublin.

The IDA's Regional Property Programme (RPP) also remains an important tool through which investors can be encouraged to locate in areas outside of Dublin. The RPP is targeted at ensuring the ready availability of an adequate supply of marketable serviced land, office and industrial buildings in advance of demand by both existing and potential client companies.

The impact of the IDA’s Regional Property Programme is reflected in the transformative nature of some of the key investments secured for the regions through it.  Over €100m in capital investment and over 1,000 high-quality jobs have been secured through this programme for towns across the counrty.

Balanced regional development will remain a top priority for this Government and will be a key objective in the IDA's new strategy which will be launched in the coming months. The enterprise agencies will continue to engage with their clients and with one another to secure further investment and job creation for Clare and the Mid-West region in the time ahead.