Budget 2026 (Enterprise, Tourism and Employment): Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2025-10-14
============================================================

Joe Flaherty (CC), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I thank Senator Conway. I do not think we have any more Senators offering to contribute, so before he responds, perhaps the Minister could indulge a few of my queries if he does not mind.
As his Westmeath colleague, Senator Davitt, has pointed out, the Minister has delivered enough jobs to Athlone and Mullingar already. I ask him to update us on the plans for the IDA advanced manufacturing facility in Longford town. Will he confirm that it will be 30,000 sq. ft, as per the spec of other facilities that have been delivered nationwide? Are we close to a date when work can start? Are they close to applying for planning permission on the site?
I was pleased to see the commitment to AI in the budget, which was an important first step. We have a huge challenge in the country in terms of AI literacy, particularly with older people, but surprisingly with our young people as well. It will be one of the key challenges for us as we move to the next phase of tech investment in Ireland. To that end, I think the national AI centre is critical. It was good to see the money announced for this in the budget. There is no reason that the centre has to be based in Dublin. AI can be anywhere and it would be an important statement for the Government and the Minister's office if that facility went to rural Ireland. As we know, there is enough already in Athlone and Mullingar and it would be seen as a very political decision if it was located there, but the Minister is aware of the empty shopping centre and the Providers building and I know Longford County Council management has spoken to him at length. It would be an important statement from this Government of the role that AI is going to play, not only for the future Ireland, but indeed for the regeneration of rural Ireland. I would welcome the Minister's thoughts on where he thinks that will be located and if it is a possibility that it can be located in rural Ireland.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-10-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:13+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-14