Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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123. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the level of new investment arising from IDA-sponsored enterprises in County Westmeath in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and to date 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39635/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The primary responsibility of IDA Ireland is to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Ireland and to retain, transform and expand the existing base of FDI companies that have already invested and located here. IDA Ireland’s strategy, Winning Foreign Direct Investment 2015 - 2019, set out challenging targets in respect of the FDI sector for the period. These targets included amongst others, the creation of 80,000 direct jobs in 900 investment projects over the period, bringing total FDI employment to 209,000 by the end of the period. Under the program, IDA targeted a minimum increase in investment of 30% to 40% in each region outside Dublin. All targets from that strategy were achieved, with 1,209 investments creating 112,373 jobs achieved over the 5 years.

A new IDA strategy covering the period 2021 to 2024 will be launched shortly. Regional development will remain at the core of IDA’s strategy for the next 4 years. Maintaining competitiveness and improving the carrying capacity of the economy will be critical to delivering FDI over the next period .

The Midlands Region (Westmeath, Longford, Laois, and Offaly) has 43 multinational companies who collectively employ 6,209 people.The Region 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.

Employment developments in IDA companies in Westmeath are outlined in the table below. (Update from Employment Survey 2019)

To support the delivery of IDA’s previous strategy, a €150m property investment plan was announced. This investment focused on the building of Advance Building Solutions (ABS’s) and Advance Office Buildings (AOBs), infrastructure investment in several Utility Intensive Strategic site solutions and the upgrade of Business and Technology Parks within IDA’s national portfolio. IDA’s property investment programme for the Midlands included the construction of an Advance Building Solution (ABS) in the Athlone Business & Technology Park, which facilitated Aerie Pharmaceutical in establishing a new ophthalmic production facility and the creation of 50 high value jobs. More recently, IDA has funded the development of property and infrastructure in the region which can support the requirements of mobile FDI. As part of this initiative, IDA recently purchased c.22.74 hectares of undeveloped lands in Athlone, Co Westmeath. The lands are located in the northern environs of Athlone Town off the N55 Ballymahon Road approximately 2km from the Town Centre and have the benefit of adjacent services and access to the N55 and M6. This acquisition represents a competitive, high profile and future focused solution for the region.

Grant Payments to IDA Clients in County Westmeath for the period 2015 – 2019 are set out below:

The IDA works closely with a wide network of stakeholders across the Midlands to advance the positioning of the region for FDI. This includes working with Westmeath-based EI-supported enterprises such as Mergon, Robotics & Drives, Trend, Sidero and Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR).

In addition, the following IDA Ireland approved projects were publicly announced during this time Aerie Pharmaceuticals (2016); Signature Orthopaedics (2017) and Neueda Technologies (2018).