Govt working hard to attract 'major' investment to Mullingar, says Varadkar

(Above) Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister of State Peter Burke in Mullingar this afternoon.

The government is working hard to attract "major investment" to the Mullingar area, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says.

Speaking during a visit with Minister of State Peter Burke to local tech firm Robotics and Drives this afternoon, the tánaiste said that the government is "very keen to make progress" on the advanced building solution planned for the IDA park in the town.

"We have funding in the capital plan to develop an advanced building solution and get a major investment into Mullingar.

"We know from around the country that where we put in place advanced building solutions, there are about 11 of them now, the investment comes. I am very keen to get that done and I know Ministers Burke and Troy are as well."

The Fine Gael leader also paid tribute to the local founders of Robotics and Drives, which is the largest robotics solutions provider in Ireland.

"We are very keen to see innovative Irish companies like this doing well and gaining market share around the world. A lot of our economic model has been about getting big international companies to invest in Ireland but what we really want to see as well is Irish companies growing big and securing international market share. This is a very good example of a company that has done exactly that."

Minister of State Burke said that it was "great to have the tanáiste in Mullingar to see a lot of good work that is underway".

"It's great to visit Robotics and Drives, who are at the cutting edge of precision robotics and exporting all over the world. They have an array of customers that they should be very proud of. They have won a number of highly skilled contracts. I would really congratulate the management team for the great work that they are doing here locally. We almost have a hub of excellence around this area of very highly skilled jobs for Mullingar and indeed the greater region."

Referring to the advanced building solution planned for the IDA park in Marlinstown, Minister Burke says that it will be a "huge asset" to the Mullingar area.

"We are working hard to get that through the planning phase, get it filled and ensure that we have really good high paid jobs for the locality."