THE IDA, as part of its new regional emphasis, hopes to encourage the building of up to a dozen advance factories in provincial towns during the coming months, according to a spokesman. The authority also plans to redouble its efforts to attract projects from successful family run companies in Germany. It is also looking at the potential for telesales or telemarketing projects in rural areas, he said.
The new policy was announced last week in Galway by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton. It followed sustained criticism of the IDA in recent months by the Western Development Partnership Board and others, who were concerned that the authority had moved away from its policy of dispersing jobs as widely as possible.
According to an analysis by the partnership board, 80 per cent of new overseas industries in recent years went to the four major urban centres of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
The IDA spokesman said the focus for overseas investment "has to be essentially the larger towns", although there will always be exceptions. As part of the new regional drive, the IDA will work with local authorities and other development groups on a programme of building advance factories. These will be built by private investors under the BES scheme.
The IDA has been given the power to approve investor funds, under the scheme, which includes a tax write off over 10 years, and has already invited applications from potential investors. The response so far has been "very strong", he said.
IDA land banks outside small towns will be transferred to local authorities as part of a Government directive that it divest itself of its "landlord role", the spokesman added. "Our role is to stimulate the provision of land and buildings, rather than actually providing them.
Two senior IDA managers, Mr Barry O'Leary and Mr Dermot Coffey, have been given responsibility for the regional policy. In addition to focusing on Germany - and on telemarketing, they will also seek to attract software development companies to the regions.
Mr Bruton, announcing 1,000 new jobs at Boston Scientific in Galway last week, denied it amounted to an implicit acceptance that the IDA had drifted away from, its previous mandate.
"What we're doing is ensuring that the IDA's regional mandate, which has always been a key feature," is up to date and is continually "renewing itself" he said.
He said employment in foreign industry amounted to less than 10 per cent of total employment in the State. "Our regional strategy for the country is focused not just on IDA projects but on a whole range of opportunities. We have very successfully developed regional tourism strategies, regional strategies around Forbairt, which is supporting indigenous industry, and indeed the county enterprise boards. We have a multi dimensional regional strategy - it doesn't stand or fall just on the IDA or just on telecommunications," he said.
The new policy meant the IDA would "look afresh" at its regional mandate, Mr Bruton added.