Just 10 new FDI jobs in County Monaghan in 2 years – Matt Carthy TD
The IDA is failing to bring investment to County Monaghan. So said local Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, this week when he described the record of the IDA in County Monaghan as ‘dismal’. He described the delivery of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) ‘badly balanced in regional terms.’
Deputy Carthy was responding to information provided to the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment which contained a breakdown of figures on job creation due to Foreign Direct Investment. The documentation showed that just 10 new FDI jobs were created in County Monaghan in 2019 and 2020.
Deputy Carthy said:
“There were 23,791 new FDI jobs created across the state in 2019 and 2020. Just 10 of them were in County Monaghan. This compares badly with almost every other county other than those that suffered significant job losses.
“There is clearly a systemic failure to attract Foreign Direct Investment to this county which epitomises the poor regional balance strategy in this area.
“Government representatives are quick to state that over half of new IDA employment is based outside of Dublin. What that means in effect though is that almost 50% of all FDI investment goes to a single county.
“There are several reasons for this – poor infrastructure, particularly broadband and public transport plays a role – but key is the lack of political leadership from government parties over many years.
“It is clear that County Monaghan requires a county-specific job creation strategy that encompasses the work being carried out by the Local Enterprise Office while setting targets for Enterprise Ireland and the IDA to resolve the long-standing failures to bring new businesses to our county which has been neglected for too long”.
ENDS
