asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the way in which he intends to assist the development of indigenous Irish companies and enterprise relative to the foreign investor; and if he intends to give preference to such Irish companies in view of the beneficial economic and social effects arising therefrom.
Written Answers. - Indigenous Irish Industry Development.
25.
It is the intention of the Government to continue, through the various incentives provided, to attract overseas industry to Ireland. Such firms make a very important contribution to the Irish economy directly employing 80,000 people and spending each year over £2.5 billion in the economy on wages, materials and services.
Because of weaknesses in its structure and management, mainstream Irish industry has performed poorly in recent years suffering an overall decline in employment, poor profitability and loss of domestic market share. The Government are determined that the indigenous sector must be strengthened and to this end have adopted a number of new initiatives and policy directions. These include the development of sectoral strategies for selected areas of manufacturing industry, the establishment of special trading houses which will provide a new and effective export service to smaller indigenous firms, the linking of State support to the achievement of specific employment targets and the giving of greater priority and resources to meeting the marketing, management and technological weaknesses of Irish industry.