Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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145. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress that has been made to date since the IDA announcement in June 2021 that a 39 acre site had been purchased in north Drogheda; the projected timelines for the completion of the advanced building solution which will be housed on the new site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60669/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In June 2021 IDA Ireland announced they had acquired two land banks in Co Louth. The land acquisitions, with a combined total of 149 acres, situated at the townland of Killally in Dundalk and Mell in Drogheda form part of IDA’s long term strategic plans to position Louth and the wider North East region to compete for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Both sets of lands have been added to the IDA marketing database, enhancing the offering in the North East. A review is underway with respect to further servicing considerations and best positioning of the land banks to potential FDI opportunities. With respect to lands in Drogheda, a concept review for an Advanced Building Solution is progressing with the objective to deliver same within the term of the current IDA Strategy (2021-2024).

The timely provision of appropriate, cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of multinational companies remains essential to winning FDI. The IDA’s regional property programme ensures the continued supply of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations to meet the needs of current and prospective clients.

The FDI performance in the North East Region has been strong over the past five years with employment growing among IDA clients within the Engineering & Industrial Technologies, Medical Technologies, Technology, International Financial Services and Life Sciences sectors. Co. Louth is home to 30 IDA Ireland client companies employing more than 4,372 people. In recent years, IDA Ireland supported companies including WUXI, Wasdell, Almac, PCI Pharma Services, Amazon Web Services and Simply NUC have announced investments and expansions for Co. Louth which has driven the demand for property solutions.