Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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336. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary is currently not included in the IDA's plans to bring industry to the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44887/24]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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337. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the criteria used by the IDA in designating a town for the location of foreign direct investment. [44888/24]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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338. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to provide a note of the legislation detailing the reason Carrick-on-Suir is excluded from IDA plans to attract industry to the town. [44898/24]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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339. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the criteria used by the IDA, in designating a town for the location of foreign direct investment. [44899/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 336 to 339, inclusive, together.

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 this regard, the availability of property and infrastructure solutions can be a key factor in investment decisions and a robust property and infrastructure ecosystem can be a major differentiator in winning foreign direct investment (FDI) projects.

There are IDA client companies situated in over 130 locations across Ireland – in every region and every county. In this regard, maximising the contribution of FDI across all regions has always been a key focus of IDA Ireland as we endeavour to spread the benefits of FDI across the country.

Despite challenging economic circumstances, IDA Ireland has performed well in attracting FDI over many years and the sustained winning of investments has had a significant and positive impact across Ireland’s regions and their local economies. Today, the global competition for FDI is intensifying with countries competing for a smaller number of projects to support economic development. It is in this context that the IDA is currently competing for investment for Ireland and engaging with multinational companies and promoting regional locations for their investment projects as part of its mandate.

There are 159 IDA client companies in the Mid-West region - comprising Clare, Limerick and Tipperary - employing 27,257 people. The FDI performance in the region has been positive over the past five years with employment among IDA clients increasing by 20%. Counties in the Mid-West also benefit hugely from the direct and indirect employment generated by IDA client companies located in bordering regions, including Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, and Waterford.

The IDA promotes Carrick-on-Suir as part of County Tipperary and as part of the Mid-West Region for FDI. IDA has targeted 76 investments for the Mid-West region in the period 2021 to 2024, including for Carrick-on-Suir. There are currently 17 IDA client companies located in County Tipperary employing 5,320 people, including Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Fiserv, Horizon Offsite, MSD Ballydine and Waystone. Many IDA client companies are within a commuting catchment of the town of Carrick-on-Suir. These have included UKG announcing 200 new jobs in Kilkenny in September 2024; Abbott Kilkenny announcing 800 new jobs in April 2023, Boston Scientific, Clonmel announcing 400 new jobs in May 2023; and Integrity and Waystone announcing 120 jobs in Cashel in May 2022. Tipperary has also seen announcements from other companies such as Abbott Vascular and MSD Ballydine.

IDA Ireland has a long and credible track record of presenting potential investors with the best location options throughout Ireland for each client. IDA actively incentivises and encourages investors to consider a range of potential locations in Ireland, however, the ultimate locations selected are always decided by the clients, not by IDA Ireland.

IDA’s success in attracting investment to the regions has been achieved despite the preference of MNCs to locate in large urban areas, including large cities and metro regions, and Ireland lacks large urban centres of European scale, outside of Dublin. In this regard, IDA Ireland focuses on winning investments across regions with a larger population catchment and a successful track record of FDI and showcases available infrastructure, property, connectivity and quality of life factors.

I should also note that IDA Ireland actively engages with Tipperary County Council, property owners and stakeholders and markets sites and property solutions across County Tipperary and the Mid-West Region as a location for investment through its extensive overseas network to both existing and new investors. IDA Ireland is a member of the Regional Enterprise Plan Steering Committee for the Mid-West Region and works closely on the implementation of this Plan.

The region and county are well positioned to continue to attract new FDI investment and grow employment in existing companies and IDA Ireland continues to collaborate with all stakeholders in the region to achieve these objectives.