Limerick told image is important in procuring jobs
IMAGE is an issue in procuring foreign investment, and Limerick people should sing the positive song.
That was the advice from the IDA’s Regional Manager, Sean Denver, invited to City Hall to explain where Limerick stood in the pecking order of new investment.
‘We sell the catchment area on its track record, tax incentives available, its technology and its talent – we market on these assets but image is an issue, and I’d say the problem is to get Limerick people to sing the positive song”.
It has emerged that a minimum of 50% of foreign investment jobs are earmarked for locations outside of Dublin.
It was emphasised that the IDA’s strategy focuses “very much on a regional basis”.
Mary Buckley, Regional Development Officer, IDA, said:
“We use Limerick as the entrance to the Mid West which has 8,000 people employed in 51 IDA jobs.
“The companies decide where they are going – the challenge for us is to get them into locations that they have not been considering”.
Limerick, she agreed, has a proven track record in securing foreign investment, citing the University of Limerick, Limerick Institute of Technology, the Art College, Mary I and other educational institutions, air access, business parks and proximity to Dublin and Cork, as well as other attractions.
With a huge amount of under-used office space available, Cllr Diarmuid Scully said: “We would like to hear plans as we are now at crisis point”.
The IDA, according to Cllr Jim Long “has fingerprints all over the slide down for Limerick, and Cllr Maurice Quinlivan claimed there is a sense that the IDA has failed to bring any low skill jobs.
In an interview with the Limerick Post, Cllr Joe Leddin, asked:
“Some 10,000 foreign investment jobs were created last year by the IDA, but less than 1% of them came to Limerick, and going forward, a minimum of 50% of foreign investment must locate outside of Dublin – where is Limerick in the pecking order.
“The message has now gone back to IDA that they haven’t been delivering for Limerick and the greater Mid West Region, even though it was recommended in Brosnan’s Mid West Task Force that they beef up their Limerick office. It’s 15 years since the last significant multinational, Vistakon, set up in the Technological Park”.
He added:
I seriously question their role in terms of what they are doing for Limerick – for instance, why have they not had the 70 acre site they own for over 10 years on the Technological Park serviced with top standard infrastructure and vigorously marketed?
“But now with more political clout in the city – Michael Noonan in the most senior ministerial position, as well as Jan O’Sullivan in Foreign Affairs, where the emphasis is now on promoting Ireland more, we may see a stronger return. Hopefully, the customer services company, Gilt, will, as promised by the IDA, deliver 100 new jobs in a few months”.
