Paul Lawless
Question:24. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the employment rate in County Mayo; and if he will outline how this compares with other counties. [12161/26]
View answerThursday, 19 February 2026
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Written answers
My Department does not collect national employment data directly as this done by the Central Statistics Office. I am advised that the CSO does not publish employment and unemployment rates by County, however, they do publish these statistics by NUTS3 region.
The West region is comprised of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. For the region, the employment rate was 73.6% and the unemployment rate was 6.7% in quarter 3 2025. This compares with an employment rate of 74.7% and unemployment rate of 5.3% for the State in quarter 3 2025. In total, there were 266,200 people employed in the West region in quarter 3 2025.
Regional development is a key focus of the work of my Department and Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. The West region is seeing the significant impact of FDI. There are 133 IDA client companies in the region employing 32,562 people. 16 of these companies are in Mayo and employ over 5,500 people. The FDI performance in the West Region has been strong over the past five years, with employment among IDA clients increasing by 16%.
The West has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across Life Sciences, Engineering, International Financial Services, Content, Consumer & Business Services, and Technology. IDA Ireland's regional strategy has a proven track record of success, and the agency has reaffirmed its strong commitment to regional development as one of four key strategic objectives of its 2025-2029 strategy, "Adapt Intelligently". This ambitious strategy aims to secure 550 of a total target of 1,000 investments, outside Dublin, including 100 investments in the West.
Enterprise Ireland client companies employed 6,543 in Mayo in 2025 an increase of 132(2.1%) compared to 2024 (6,411). Enterprise Ireland grants to client companies in Mayo totalled over €2.3m in 2024. In relation to Start-ups, the 2025 New Frontiers programme for the West funded by Enterprise Ireland and managed by Atlantic Technology University, attracted 66 participants this year on Phase 1, and 13 start-ups were selected to participate on Phase 2 from October 2025. The programme supports high potential start-ups from Galway, Mayo, Roscommon with mentoring, hot-desk space and an overall grant package of €22,500 to allow exploration of their new business idea.