Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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13. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is satisfied that the IDA is sufficiently focused on the potential for the Irish economy for assisting companies trading internationally with nearshoring production which to date has been outsourced internationally, given the recent developments in international trade including developments associated with international trade sanctions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47065/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Events of the last few years including Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine, have heightened companies’ focus on economic resilience and the supply chain risks associated with international production. Responding to developments in international trade, combined with rising costs and geopolitical uncertainty, companies across all sectors have taken steps to increase the flexibility and resiliency of supply chains, including reworking networks and nearshoring activities. To ensure that Ireland remains competitive for FDI, IDA Ireland reviews its overall enterprise policy on an ongoing basis. In carrying out this ongoing review process IDA Ireland works to ensure the Agency is aware of all relevant emerging trends, opportunities and challenges. This includes the trend of nearshoring, which involves a business moving its operation to a nearby country from one of greater distance.

IDA Ireland has and continues to demonstrate its focus on this trend. IDA Ireland partners with client companies to identify opportunities for local sourcing to enhance the resilience of their supply chains. In doing so, IDA Ireland’s sectoral divisions consider how to strengthen value chain linkages between IDA Ireland client companies and SMEs. This activity is beneficial to both MNCs and SMEs as linkages are strengthened and positive spillovers are achieved. IDA is collaborating with Enterprise Ireland to achieve the spillover effect, directly introducing MNCs to Enterprise Ireland clients which can fulfil supply chain requirements with local sourcing. This a key component of the Impact pillar under the IDA’s four-year strategy, ‘Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth’, to increased spend in the Irish economy by our MNCs. The target is to see a 20% increase in client expenditure in Ireland to maximise the impact of FDI over the four years of the strategy.