The Tánaiste and Minister for Public Enterprise has denied that yesterday's announcement of almost 1,000 new jobs in the west and midlands was staged in the lead-up to the general election.
Ms Harney described it as "golden Thursday" for the region when she confirmed that a British insurance company, Churchill Insurance Group plc, was to create 600 jobs over the next five years in Galway.
Earlier yesterday she announced a package of almost 400 new jobs in Limerick and Birr, Co Offaly.
Ms Harney, who was also in Galway to attend last night's Progressive Democrats special selection convention, said she did not believe companies made investment decisions on the basis of general elections.
The date for yesterday's announcement had been in her diary for four months, and the IDA had been working with both companies for quite some time.
"If creating jobs was to deliver political success, then I'd probably win 30 or 40 seats in the next election," she said. "This is not about canvassing. It is not about electioneering. This is about the economic success of the country.
"It is a fact that we have created 380,000 new jobs over the last five years, we have taken unemployment down from 10 to 4 per cent, we have reversed emigration, we now have immigration with 70,000 foreign workers in the country, and we are getting about 1,000 applications a week for work permits.
"These companies make decisions based on the fact that the Irish economy can supply highly qualified young people with skills that they require," she added. "We have very low corporate tax rates, we have a very pro-business environment, we are part of the eurozone, which enhances the attractiveness of Ireland and its location for development."
It also showed that locations outside Dublin were no longer peripheral and attracted "the kind of investments such as those announced today".
Churchill Insurance Group is the fifth-largest general insurance company in Britain and is being supported by IDA Ireland in establishing an additional "customer interaction" centre, close to its existing base at Ballybrit Business Park in Galway which currently employs 50 people.
Recruitment is due to begin immediately, the company says.
