Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department, together with the enterprise agencies, plays an integral role in supporting a robust economy and the development of resilient, sustainable enterprises and well-paid employment opportunities across the country. In this regard, balanced regional development remains a priority for IDA Ireland, with 132 of a total of 248 investments - or 54% of investments won last year - choosing to locate outside of Dublin.

The total number of regional jobs in IDA client companies now stands at 163,471. 31,092 of these jobs are in 128 IDA supported companies in the West Region. 16 of these companies are in Mayo with a combined employment of 5,434 jobs.

The FDI performance in the region has been strong over the past several years with employment among IDA clients increasing by 17% over the last 5 years. This includes a significant ecosystem of well-established Life Sciences companies, which has helped drive strong cluster development. The number of people employed in software engineering, technical support, global business services and R&D in the Region has also grown considerably in recent years.

Most recently, in October 2023 Meissner Corporation celebrated the official opening of its new 3,900 m² (42,000 ft²) manufacturing facility in Co. Mayo. This followed an announcement by Charles River Laboratories in July of a €10m expansion of its testing capabilities at its Ballina, Co. Mayo site.

Employment in EI client companies in Mayo has also been increasing over the last three years. CBE in Claremorris, a retail and hospitality technology company announced 25 jobs in October 2023. In November, Irish cybersecurity start-up Cytidel raised €1.3m in funding round and Tarracor Robotics secured a €100,000 pre-seed funding award from Enterprise Ireland.

My Department hosted a Building Better Business event in the Arts Centre in Ballina on October 2013 which was well attended by companies and entrepreneurs in the region. This complemented a series of events run throughout the month focusing on innovation, enterprise and start-ups as part of Mayo Ideas Month, and included key stakeholders and an Enterprise Ireland-hosted Lean Network online event also in October.

Finally, the number of IDA and Enterprise Ireland backed jobs and companies in 2023 in County Mayo are set out in the Table below: