IDA brought just seven firms to Westmeath in 2012

Just seven site visits were made by the IDA to Westmeath in all of 2012 - less than half the number of visits made in 2011, and fewer than a third of those made in 2010.No IDA jobs were created in the county during 2012, and of the 250 jobs announced by IDA companies in Westmeath in 2011, all were in Athlone.The numbers have outraged TD, Willie Penrose, who said this week that he has "bluntly informed" the CEO of the IDA, Barry O'Leary, that he is "extremely disappointed" with the low number of IDA sponsored site visits to Westmeath, and particularly to Mullingar."I requested him and his IDA colleagues to make Mullingar a priority location in 2013 for site visits and promotion. It is the least we in Mullingar deserve for our patience to date, but this is now fast running out, with our industrial park at Marlinstown, which is fully serviced, with the necessary planning permission in place, lying idle for the past five years and which in itself is an indictment of failure," Deputy Penrose told the Westmeath Examiner this week.Deputy Penrose said he has also requested Minister Bruton to directly request the IDA to make a special effort to promote Mullingar at every available opportunity as an ideal location for industrialists to choose for their investments."I intend to diligently pursue both the IDA and the minister, to ensure that Mullingar's status as an important town at the centre of the Gateway Triangle is not overlooked any more," he said.In Dáil Éireann, Minister Bruton revealed that during the same three-year period, not one IDA sponsored site visit was made to Longford.He also revealed that in addition to the four company announcements in 2011 with the potential to create 250 jobs, there was also a €25m investment in R&D announced, for Athlone."The challenge facing the IDA is to continue to win top quality investment for Ireland in a difficult market place. International competition for FDI (foreign direct investment) has become extremely intense and continues to increase. The agency has indicated that, in seeking to achieve balanced regional development and the broader goal of securing new FDI projects for Ireland in a competitive global environment, the concept of scale is crucial," Minister Bruton said.He continued: "Leading global corporations require a significant population pool, access to qualified talent, world class physical and digital infrastructure as well as the availability of sophisticated professional and business support services. Ireland has only one such region, the Greater Dublin area. In its efforts to achieve balanced regional economic development, IDA prioritises the marketing of its Gateway locations within each region as the locations of critical mass and highlights the opportunities provided by other locations on an opportunistic basis, which are within commuting distances of these Gateways."Minister Bruton said that Longford and Westmeath form part of IDA's Midland Region, together with Laois, Offaly and Roscommon."In that region, IDA prioritises the marketing of the linked gateway of Athlone/ Tullamore/ Mullingar. In addition, the agency promotes Longford, Portlaoise and Roscommon as part of its wider marketing efforts and in response to specific client requests," he stated.The minister went on to explain that when arranging itineraries for potential investors, the normal practice for IDA is to show the company three or four locations within a region that can meet its requirements and, in certain cases, other locations are visited on an opportunistic basis."In selecting locations to market to client companies, IDA Ireland endeavours to include locations which have been affected by closures/job losses," he added, pointing out that while IDA Ireland seeks to influence the selection of a location, the final decision on where to locate is taken in all cases by the investor.At present in the midlands, there are 44 IDA client companies employing some 5,000 people in total, of which more than half are located in Longford and Westmeath. There are 24 IDA client companies located in Longford and Westmeath and employing 2,884.The minister undertook to discuss with the IDA "in the coming weeks" the problem of the lack of site visits to certain regional locations.