Written answers

Tuesday, 10 November 2020

Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment

IDA Ireland

Photo of Johnny GuirkeJohnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment if investment in County Meath through IDA sponsored enterprises will be increased ensuring more IDA backed investor visits to the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34984/20]

Photo of Johnny GuirkeJohnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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76. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the number of IDA visits to counties Meath and Westmeath, respectively over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35064/20]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 76 together.

Counties Meath and Westmeath continue to be strong performers in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). From 2015 to 2019, the number of IDA client companies based in County Meath increased from 16 to 19 with over 350 net new jobs added during this period.

In County Westmeath, the number of multinational firms increased from 18 companies in 2015, to 22 companies at the end of last year. IDA client companies in County Westmeath also reported a net increase of over 960 net new jobs from 2015 to 2019. There have also been a number of high-profile investments from FDI firms during this period including Neueda Technologies, Teleflex Medical and Aerie Pharmaceuticals.

County Meath is part of the Mid-East region which hosts a number of investments of significant scale in the Technology and Pharmaceutical sectors. Meath specifically is home to successful companies such as PCI Pharma Services and MSD, who recently announced it has acquired the Takeda biologics facility in Dunboyne, Co. Meath.

Westmeath is part of the Midlands region and has been successful over several years in mobilising inward FDI, with employment levels in IDA client companies increasing every year since 2012. The Midlands offers an attractive cluster of LifeSciences and Global Business Services companies, excellent connectivity to major cities and Dublin airport and world class collaboration between academia and industry.

From 2015 to 2019 Meath has hosted 28 site visits. There have been a further 2 in-person site visits to Meath as of the second quarter of this year. From 2015 to 2019 Westmeath has hosted 150 site visits. A further five in-person visits and three E-visits have taken place as of the second quarter of this year.

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 counties Meath and the Westmeath. As an alternative to site visits, the IDA has migrated many of its business development and client engagement activities to digital platforms. The Agency has developed new digital content and has also put in place an E-Site Visit experience for potential investors.

Notwithstanding the difficulties presented by the pandemic, site visits do remain an important means by which the IDA can showcase regional locations – including Meath and Westmeath– 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 – 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 recently, reflect the resilience of the FDI base here and I will be doing everything I can to support its further growth and development, across Ireland.

The table below sets out the total number of in-person and E-site visits to Counties Meath and Westmeath from 2015 to the second quarter of 2020.

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Q1-Q2 2020 In-person visits Q1-Q2 2020 E-visits
35 44 45 28 26 7 3

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