Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2026
298. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the total number of IDA sites, by county; the number of sites that are vacant; and the average vacancy rate of sites in the last five years, in tabular form. [50866/26]
View answerRegional development is a key focus of our Programme for Government and is central to the work of my Department and our enterprise development agencies. In this regard, IDA Ireland is continuing 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 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects outside Dublin, accounting for 55% of the 1,000 investments targeted over that period.
The availability of appropriate property solutions is a significant factor in winning FDI and investments by Enterprise Ireland clients into regional locations. In locations where little or no suitable property solutions are available for FDI, and where market failure has resulted in a lack of private sector-led advanced solutions, IDA Ireland intervenes to provide high-quality and sustainable property solutions aligned with evolving client needs.
IDA Ireland’s Regional property Programme, in addition to delivering advance buildings, includes a focus on acquiring strategic land banks to future proof the ability of the property portfolio to support the project pipeline, most notably large-scale capital-intensive projects which have significant regional and national beneficial economic impacts. In that regard, a ready supply of available zoned industrial land for sale and development is vital to ensure IDA Ireland can compete for investments of scale across all activities and sectors. It is imperative that the Agency can be agile in developing and maintaining a property portfolio to support future investment opportunities across all regions as they arise.
IDA currently has a presence or maintains a residual title interest in a total of 279 holdings across industrial estates, business parks and strategic land banks throughout the country. These are either fully occupied, partly occupied or are greenfield opportunities that may have infrastructure requirements.
There are 96 IDA Ireland holdings on which there are marketable sites currently, in 2026, Table 1, which is a subset of the 279 holdings as set out. This average varies from year to year in line with marketing activities and client take up. The average number of holdings on which there was marketable land by year for the last 5 years, is set out in Table 2 below.
Table 1 Number of IDA Ireland Holdings by county, 2026.
|
County |
Holdings that are either fully occupied (on which IDA has residual title), partly occupied or are greenfield opportunities that may have infrastructure requirements/deficits |
Holdings on which there is Marketable Land |
|
Carlow |
8 |
1 |
|
Cavan |
7 |
2 |
|
Cork |
35 |
19 |
|
Donegal |
12 |
4 |
|
Dublin |
27 |
5 |
|
Galway |
26 |
9 |
|
Kerry |
6 |
4 |
|
Kildare |
13 |
4 |
|
Kilkenny |
8 |
3 |
|
Laois |
5 |
1 |
|
Leitrim |
11 |
4 |
|
Limerick |
2 |
2 |
|
Longford |
5 |
1 |
|
Louth |
13 |
9 |
|
Mayo |
17 |
3 |
|
Meath |
7 |
2 |
|
Monaghan |
6 |
1 |
|
Offaly |
7 |
4 |
|
Roscommon |
8 |
2 |
|
Sligo |
7 |
3 |
|
Tipperary |
5 |
1 |
|
Waterford |
9 |
3 |
|
Westmeath |
14 |
5 |
|
Wexford |
8 |
3 |
|
Wicklow |
13 |
1 |
|
Total |
279 |
96 |
Table 2 Average number of IDA Ireland Holdings on which there is Marketable Land by Year over the past 5 years.
|
Year |
Holdings on which there is Marketable Land |
|
2021 |
102 |
|
2022 |
99 |
|
2023 |
95 |
|
2024 |
93 |
|
2025 |
97 |
