Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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89. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the efforts by the IDA to attract inward investment to counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6850/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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2021 was a record-breaking year for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) employment in 2021, with total employment in IDA client companies now standing at 275,384, up over 29,000 on 2020. Growth in the regions was particularly buoyant with 53%, that is 133 projects of the 249 investments won going to regional locations and employment growth was recorded in every region of the country.

The strong growth in regional investment was supported by IDA Ireland’s property programme. A robust property and infrastructure ecosystem can be the key differentiator in winning FDI projects, as evidenced by the record regional results achieved under IDA’s Winning 2015-2019 strategy.

The 2021 figures show a pattern of sustained, robust growth in FDI investment and FDI-related employment over a continuous period of more than ten-years. The 2021 results reveal an exceptional start to the IDA’s current strategy, Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth 2021- 2024, which seeks to further develop FDI at the centre of a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive Irish economy.

The number of new jobs created by the IDA in counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath over 2021 is detailed below:

IDA Ireland continues to engage with new companies on promoting Ireland as a location for their business utilising virtual site visits as opposed to physically visiting the county. In 2021, the IDA hosted three e-site visits to Cavan and two to Monaghan. The IDA will continue to position Cavan, Monaghan and Meath for both virtual and in-person visits throughout 2022 and beyond.

IDA Ireland's strategy represents a major contribution to national policy goals on advancing regional development. Despite a more challenging environment, the Agency will continue to maintain the same high level of investments targeted as in their previous strategy for each region, guided by the focus in the National Planning Framework on building stronger regions and centres of scale. In this regard, the IDA are targeting half of all investments (400) from 2021- 2024 to regional locations.