John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

145. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the proactive measures that are taking place to ensure IDA Ireland policy is prioritised in regions, and in particular County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39740/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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 Enterprise Agencies, including IDA Ireland.

The first six months of this year saw IDA Ireland support 131 investments, 74 of which are planned for regional locations, enabling the future delivery of 8,900 jobs to the economy against an increasingly challenging global operating environment. The IDA continues to deliver strongly on its 2021-2024 strategy, having exceeded on targets related to the total number of investments, job approvals, regional investment and number of sustainability projects supported by the agency ahead of schedule.

While FDI performance remains strong, neither Government nor my Department are complacent about Ireland’s competitive position regarding our FDI value proposition, with policies, strategies and the legislative toolkit constantly kept under review to ensure objectives set out in this critical area of the economy are met. In this regard, the IDA is actively preparing its next strategy to cover the period from 2025 and, of course, I anticipate Regional Enterprise Development to feature strongly. Moreover, last month I joined An Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance at a Government Competitiveness Summit where we recommitted to addressing the current challenges to Ireland’s global competitive position and our FDI offering, all of which will benefit Co Wicklow.

The IDA client base continues to support over 300,000 direct jobs and a further 240,000 indirectly. Many FDI companies are in Ireland for many years and are making second and third generation investments in high-value, high-skilled jobs.

Wicklow is in the IDA 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%.

Furthermore, 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, Climate Action Plans, the National Development Plan, 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.