IDA Ireland more than doubled its spend on purchasing land holdings last year to €32.87 million for planned industrial sites as it looked to safeguard Ireland as a leading global destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).
Figures provided in response to a Freedom of Information request confirm that the agency was significantly more active in snapping up planned industrial sites than it had been over the previous two years.
Last year’s outlay is 135 per cent up on the €13.95 million paid out for land in 2024 and even further ahead of the €13.22 million spent on six property purchases in 2023.
The agency, which is responsible for attracting inward investment, acquired nine sites for ’strategic FDI development’ in 2025, the largest of which in size terms was 48 hectares (119 acres) in Co Meath.
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Seven of the nine sites acquired last year were in Leinster with the other two being in Cork. The property purchases last year took place in Meath (48 hectares), Offaly (26 hectares), Kildare (13.7 hectares), Meath (8.32 hectares), Laois (3.81 hectares), Dublin (2.1 hectares) Cork (1.99 hectares), Westmeath (1.7 hectares) and Cork (0.22 hectares).
That compared with five purchases in 2024 of land in Galway, Kilkenny, Laois, Louth and Mayo.
Commenting on the sharp increase in the number and value of property purchases in 2025, an IDA spokeswoman said on Friday: “The increased spend during 2025 is an indication of IDA Ireland’s continued commitment to supporting Ireland’s economic development, enhancing our ability to attract and facilitate new business opportunities.
“It reflects the strong levels of inward investment by companies supported by IDA Ireland, along with their need for viable locations to establish their operations,” she said. “It also demonstrates our focus on maintaining an appropriate stock of property solutions tailored to client needs.”
The IDA FOI unit declined to release the cost of each purchase. It said: “IDA is currently engaged in negotiations with landowners for the acquisitions of lands in a number of locations throughout Ireland. On that basis, the release of the purchase prices paid by IDA for lands in 2024 and 2025 would adversely affect IDA in its current negotiations, significantly prejudicing IDA’s competitive position.”
The unit said “disclosure of this information could affect IDA’s ability to negotiate effectively and impact the quality of discussions with property agents or landowners by indicating amounts which IDA may be willing to pay vendors of lands”.
