Taoiseach told the IDA are biased and have ignored Laois
Deputy Sean Fleming lambasted the IDA and told the Taoiseach that more people leave Laois for work every day than have jobs in the county
Taoiseach Micheál Martin described as ‘surprising’ and ‘extraordinary’ the low number of IDA supported jobs in Laois compared to neighbouring counties.
Laois Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming raised the issue with the Taoiseach when he lambasted the IDA’s performance in Laois and accused Ireland’s Foreign Direct Investment Agency of displaying favorable bias towards Athlone while ignoring Laois.
“I think the Taoiseach will be shocked by what I have to say. The IDA has ignored Laois for many years. There are 145 IDA-supported jobs in County Laois. That is by far the bottom of its list by a long shot,” said Deputy Fleming.
He explained that the IDA’s regional office was based in Athlone, Co Westmeath where client companies looking at the midlands were regularly brought.
“What I will say about the four counties the IDA covers in the midlands is that there are 8,000 jobs but only 145 of them are in Laois. Even when we look at the midlands region, it has only 2% of the jobs from IDA-supported companies. When we look at it nationally, it is even worse,” said Dep Fleming.
He told the Taoiseach that the latest IDA site visit figures he was able to obtain were from 2024.
“There were two site visits to County Laois but there were 18 to Westmeath. Why? The IDA regional office is in Athlone and there is an absolute complete and total bias by the people in the regional office in Athlone in terms of bringing people to other counties,” claimed Dep Fleming.
“When somebody wants to come to the midlands, what do they do? The people in the office in Athlone take them for a little drive down the road to some place on the outskirts of Athlone. That is what is happening. Of course, the IDA will say to us that it cannot tell people where to go; they want to go to places where there is already a cluster of other IDA companies. In pursuing that, however, it has left Laois totally out on a limb,” he stated.
Dep Fleming highlighted Laois’s central position and its proximity to the motorway and rail network.
“The population has gone from 30,000 to 90,000 in my time as a TD. The population of Portlaoise has gone from 10,000 to 30,000 in the last number of years. It is the fastest growing town Ireland. We are providing houses, as the Government wants us to do. Our local authority is ahead of every other country when it comes to the number of houses. We are getting those houses and we appreciate them. Of course, there are issues but we do not have jobs in Laois for most people,” said Dep Fleming.
He also took a swipe at Enterprise Ireland who he claimed were also ignoring Laois.
“Enterprise Ireland is not much better. We have only 2,000 Enterprise Ireland jobs in County Laois, which represents only one in six of the entire midlands region. Both outfits are ignoring County Laois.”
In response, Mr Martin said “I must say that I find the figure of 150 jobs quite extraordinary. When we look at Laois geographically it is on the motorway. It has critical mass in terms of population and one would have thought that there would have been a natural gravitation of foreign direct investment to Laois because of its proximity to labour markets in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Therefore, it has all the ingredients, one would have thought, to enable more jobs to be located there.”
He noted that Kildare which shares a county boundary has “an extraordinary” number of IDA supported jobs.
“It is surprising, in contrast, that Laois does not have a more proportionate number of FDI jobs. Some of that may be because there is a significant critical mass of public sector jobs in Laois due to good decentralisation policies of previous Governments, of which Fianna Fáil was a leading member, but we will not go there,” the Taoiseach said.
He said the IDA had around 30 hectares of land available in the business and technology park in Portlaoise.
“The IDA is focusing on high-value manufacturing services and research and development opportunities in the region. Under its 2025 to 2029 property programme, the IDA plans 23 projects nationwide, including an advanced building solution and further business park upgrades in Portlaoise,” Mr Martin said.
Dep Fleming said “there are more people who leave County Laois every day to go to work outside the county than there are people with jobs in the county. More Laois people have to commute to work, maybe using the motorway.”
“However, there is also good news. The IDA bought a 45 acre site a few years ago adjacent to a site it already had and it has planning permission to develop it. Let us hope that will bring jobs. The first critical step is for the IDA to arrange a few site visits, not a miserable two visits which it arranged two years ago. The figure has to be up at ten or 12. I understand the issue of clustering and I believe that can have an impact. We need a good kickstart in Laois to get up there in that regard,” he concluded.
An IDA spokesperson issued a response to the comments but didn’t address the allegation of bias.
“The Midlands region, which includes County Laois, accounted for 7,501 IDA-supported jobs in 2025, reflecting the continued importance of this region in Ireland’s foreign direct investment proposition,” the spokesperson said.
“IDA Ireland continues to actively market the Midlands region, including County Laois, as a destination for investment. The agency has secured and serviced a landbank in Portlaoise to support viable, long-term investment in the region.
“IDA’s value proposition is based on talent availability, infrastructure, property solutions, sectoral fit and proximity to existing clusters. However, investment location decisions are ultimately made by companies based on these and other factors. IDA Ireland remains focused on supporting balanced, sustainable regional development and ensuring that communities across Ireland are positioned to compete for future investment opportunities.”