New job creation effort stats for Laois reveal 'appalling' record

Laois is at the bottom of the pile when it comes to attempts to persuade foreign companies to set up in Ireland something which local Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has described 'appalling'.

The Laois Offaly representative has received  new figures from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment which he claime underline that Laois and Offaly are not being promoted for foreign direct investment to the same extent as other counties.

The Industrial Development Authority shows that Laois and Offaly was marketed to just six companies from overseas. Despited heavy investment by Laois County Council and the IDA, Laois was least attractive.

"The figures I obtained this week show that in the first nine months of 2022 there were just two IDA visits to Co Laois and four to Offaly. This follows a similar pattern to 2021 when three visits were made to Laois in the full year and in Offaly four for the full year.

"It is important to point out some of these visits are “E site visits’ which means they were virtual discussions online with prospective investors and not actual visits," said the TD.

Dep Stanley said Laois and Offaly are coming out worse than other counties.

“Other counties seem to do a lot better, with 20 IDA visits been made to Westmeath and 14 to County Louth in the first 9 months of 2022. This has been a consistent pattern over recent years with the two Midland counties falling behind other regions.

“The announcement this week of the loss of jobs in Argos in Portlaoise and Tullamore underline the need for the creation of good quality jobs in the Midlands. Far too many people are forced to commute long distances from Laois /Offaly to access employment," he said.

The Laois Offaly TD said IDA must deliver a return on public money it has spent in Laois.

"The IDA have purchased a large site of the Mountrath Road in Portlaoise and as local public representatives we have lobbied hard for this. The IDA now need to up their game and I will be raising this with the new Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment Simon Coveney TD,"  he said.

The land purchased by the IDA in Portlaoise is beside a technology park it owns in the town which has relatively few businesses. 

Head of Regions, Property and Enterprise Development at IDA Ireland, Denis Curran commented on the purchase in October 2022.

 “The timely provision of appropriate, innovative and cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of MNCs is key to winning Foreign Direct Investment.  This significant investment by IDA Ireland in the Midlands Region aims to future-proof the property offering in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the region and to Laois in particular,” he said.

Jobs in Laois to be lost as Argos set to close all stores in Ireland

The lack of IDA success contrasts with Laois County Council efforts. It has persuaded several firms to set up shop in Portlaoise in recent years on land it developed beside the M7 motorway.