Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will outline the work being carried out in his Department to promote the Border counties North and South as a destination for foreign direct investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21790/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Foreign Direct Investment plays a significant role in Ireland’s economy and the flow of FDI into the country is strong. Numbers directly employed in the multinational sector in Ireland reached 301,475 at the end of 2022, the highest FDI employment level ever, and a 9% increase on 2021 with employment growth seen throughout the country. in 2022, 242 investments were won and 103 of these were new name investments. Of the new investments, 52% went to regional locations.

These record results demonstrate not only the resilience of the FDI sector in Ireland, but also the strength of Ireland’s value proposition and attractive business environment, which enables global companies to successfully invest and expand in Ireland. As we face a challenging and competitive global environment, Ireland will continue to strengthen its attractiveness for FDI, grounded in the policies articulated in the White Paper on Enterprise published by Government last December. This, of course, includes the Border region, which saw a 6% rise in FDI employment and several new investments last year.

One key element in winning, sustaining, and supporting FDI is a proactive, functional property and infrastructural ecosystem. IDA Ireland’s current strategy, Driving Recovery And Sustainable Growth 2021-2024, contains a commitment to deliver 19 Advanced Building Solutions in 15 regional locations throughout Ireland. The Regional Building programme is progressing well with the completion of 8 of the 19 properties as of Q2 2023. Included among these are several locations in border counties, including Monaghan, Sligo and Dundalk.

The importance of promoting FDI across our island is reflected in the White Paper on Enterprise, which includes regional targets seeking to ensure that unemployment does not exceed one percentage point of the national unemployment rate in any region. Key targets include delivering at least half of all new FDI investments from 2021-2024 outside of Dublin, and for over two thirds of new jobs created in Enterprise Ireland supported firms to be located outside of Dublin.

Finally, as part of Government’s Shared Island initiative, opportunities for North/South cooperation to enhance the investment proposition of the island as a whole, and in border regions, will continue to be pursued, including on research and innovation, skills, transport connectivity, renewable energy, and the development of sectoral ecosystems across both jurisdictions.