Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 September 2025
44. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the procedures in place to encourage foreign direct investment into County Meath given its proximity to Dublin and transport links to cities like Belfast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50679/25]
View answerForeign Direct Investment is a key element of our economic strategy, with investments by IDA Ireland client companies consistently generating highly skilled jobs nationwide and very considerable exchequer returns. My Department works closely with IDA Ireland and other stakeholders to ensure a strong pipeline of foreign direct investment into Ireland.
Regional development is a key element of the 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 IDA Ireland. In 2024, IDA Ireland recorded record employment levels with 1,830 client companies employing 302,355 individuals directly, including 165,484 roles based in regional locations. Investment continues to be strong in 2025, as reflected in the announcement of 179 new projects by IDA Ireland during the first half of 2025, which are expected to create more than 10,000 jobs—over half of which will be situated in regional areas.
In February this year, IDA Ireland launched its new strategy, Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation 2025-29. Under this strategy, IDA Ireland will target 1,000 investments, with 550 in regional locations outside Dublin. This ambitious target reflects IDA Ireland’s ongoing commitment to support transformation and growth in the regions.
Balanced regional development is also a government priority for Meath, along with the counties of Kildare and Wicklow which comprise the Mid East Regional Enterprise Plan. This Plan was developed and led by regional stakeholders, and focuses on collaborative initiatives to strengthen the enterprise ecosystem in the region.
There has been a 61% increase in employment in FDI clients in County Meath over the last 5 years, resulting from a strong investment performance including expansions in Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) investments. There are 16 IDA supported companies in Meath which employ 3,047 in total. Key IDA clients in the county include MSD, PCI Pharma, Utmost Paneurope, Unilin, ArcRoyal, Meta, Alltech Biotechnology Centre, Coca Cola and Amazon Data Centre.
The availability of property and infrastructure solutions can be the key differentiator in winning Foreign Direct Investment projects as well as investment by Irish owned companies. IDA has Business and Technology Parks with available lands in Navan (65 acres) and Drogheda (8 acres) and the strong FDI performance in the county will be leveraged as IDA continues to market Meath as a location for further FDI investment utilising its global network of overseas offices.
Recent investments in the county include PCI’s announcement in June last year to construct a new pharmaceutical packaging facility in Stamullen and MSD’s opening of its first biologics facility in Dunboyne in September 2023. IDA is actively engaged with client companies in County Meath, focusing on supporting existing operations as well as new investment opportunities.
The Government is fully aware of the competitiveness challenge the country faces as it competes for foreign direct investment. We are taking the necessary steps to position Ireland for the future, and we will continue to place costs, planning, energy and R&D at the centre of our forward-looking policy making – all reflected in policy commitments in the new Programme for Government and the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity.
