John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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570.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits that were taken by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland clients to each of the local electoral areas (LEAs) in County Wicklow; the number of jobs that were created by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in each of the LEAs in the counties; the value of the investments made by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland client companies in each of the LEAs in the counties in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32525/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Regional development is a key element of Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise, and is a key focus of the work of my Department and our Agencies. The availability of property and infrastructure solutions is a key factor in investment decisions and a robust property and infrastructure ecosystem can be the key differentiator in winning Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects.

IDA Ireland’s Regional Property Programme is aimed at supporting economic development and job creation across the country by providing property solutions for its own as well as Enterprise Ireland and LEO clients and the IDA Ireland facilitates both virtual and in-person sites visits for companies.

Data on the number of site visits is only provided on a county level and figures from 2019 to 2023 for site visits to County Wicklow are set in the table that follows, while there were no site visits to Wicklow in Q1 this year with Quarter two figures currently being collated and verified by the IDA and will be available next month. In interpreting the figures, potential clients may visit more than one county and may return to a location more than once and the figures being provided represent individual visits and are, therefore, not indicative of the number of companies that have visited.

The number of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland client companies and the numbers employed from 2019-2023 are shown in the table below.

* In line with Enterprise Ireland’s 2022-2024 strategy, a revision of the population of companies included in the Annual Employment Survey was undertaken to take account of companies that had been acquired or those whose strategy or need to engage with Enterprise Ireland had changed. As a result, changes to the baseline survey population impacted Enterprise Ireland client company numbers and total employment from 2021.

Grant Payments to both IDA and EI clients in County Wicklow over the last 5 years are shown below.

Additionally, two infrastructural clients of Enterprise Ireland in County Wicklow, the Arklow Business Enterprise Centre and Clermont Enterprise Hub, have received payments of €1.8 million over the period 2019 to 2023.

Grants paid in a particular year are not necessarily linked to either the investments won, or the jobs created in that 12-month period. Grants are generally drawn down over the lifetime of a project which is typically over a period of three to five years. Some investments which result in job creation may not be grant aided and some well-established firms may no longer be receiving grant payments.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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571.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the proactive measures taking place to ensure IDA Ireland policy is prioritised in regions, particular County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32526/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Regional development is a key element of Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise, and is a key focus of the work of my Department and our Agencies. In that regard, IDA Ireland is committed to the pursuit of balanced, compact regional development and is targeting that at least half of all investments - that is 400 of 800 - from 2021 to 2024 to regional locations.

IDA Ireland is now in the final year of its 2021-24 strategy, “Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth”. The IDA's 2024 Mid-Year results indicated continued strong performance and targets for the total number of investments, job approvals, regional investment and number of sustainability projects supported by the agency are now exceeded. 131 investments were won in the first half of 2024, 74 of which were secured across regional locations, representing 56% of all investments and potential for delivery of 8,900 jobs to the economy against an increasingly challenging global operating environment. IDA has over 1,800 client companies within its portfolio employing 300,583 as at the end of 2023. Employment in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) companies now accounts for over 11% of the workforce. The total number of regional jobs now stands at 163,471 as at the end of 2023.

Wicklow is in the Mid-East Region which also comprises counties Kildare, Louth and Meath. There are 118 IDA client companies in the Mid-East Region, employing 20,429 people. Of this, there are 21 IDA client companies in Wicklow, employing 2,673 people. The FDI performance in the region has been consistent over the past five years with employment among IDA clients increasing by 14%.

The Mid-East has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across Technology, Life Sciences, International Financial Services and Engineering & Industrial Technologies. It has also won significant investment in the Food and the Film sub-sectors. Key IDA client companies in Wicklow include Takeda, Servier Industries, Nypro and Elavon Financial Services. Counties in the Mid-East also benefit hugely from the direct and indirect employment generated by IDA client companies located in Dublin. Moreover, IDA Ireland continues to engage with current and prospective clients to promote Ireland as a location for their business and facilitates both virtual and in-person sites visits for companies.

At Government level we are focused on competitiveness to underpin future success in attracting inward investment and safeguard Ireland’s attractiveness as a top destination for FDI. Through implementation of national policy and strategies developed in recent years, including the Government’s White Paper on Enterprise, National Development Plan Review, Climate Action Plans and Review of the National Planning Framework we are aiming to safeguard Ireland’s attractiveness as a destination for FDI and secure future success in attracting inward investment to Ireland, including for County Wicklow.