Pearse Doherty
Question:17. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the major areas of consideration raised by multi-national corporations when considering investing in the State. [3225/13]
View answerThursday, 24 January 2013
Questions (17)
Written answers
IDA Ireland’s primary responsibility is to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and to grow and expand existing FDI companies in Ireland in the face of strong international competition.
As Ireland is no longer a low cost labour location, IDA Ireland is now targeting companies involved in more knowledge based activities that are driven by technology and innovation, with an emphasis on higher skill requirements and R&D. Ireland has built strong networks in key sectors such as ICT, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices and Financial Services. IDA has informed me that the key requirements of potential investors in determining where they will visit and, consequently, where they will potentially locate tend to centre on the following:
- Access to a pool of suitably qualified employees;
- The availability of world-class access infrastructure in terms of road access to key cities and ports and international airports;
- The availability of telecommunications infrastructure with multiple carriers and competitive pricing with business support services;
- Third level educational infrastructure including universities and technical colleges that are located on, or are close to, business and technology parks;
- A range of affordable, state-of-the-art property solutions; and,
- The attitude of the local community to potential investors.
The Agency has also stressed that the combined influence of Ireland’s increased competitiveness in business costs, the Government’s commitment to maintain our 12.5% corporate tax rate, national infrastructure development and the Government’s continued investment in Science, Technology and Innovation have resulted in Ireland continuing to attract and increase the level of FDI in Ireland.
Finally, Ireland’s performance in attracting FDI has been recognised internationally and these international comparisons are impressive. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2012, which publishes internationally respected rankings, classified some of Ireland’s strengths as follows: -
- we are 1st for investment incentives;
- 1st for flexibility and adaptability;
- 4th for real corporate taxes;
- 2nd for lack of protectionism; and,
- 4th for corporate tax rate on profit.
IBM’s Global Location Trends Report of 2012 places Ireland:
- 1st in the world for inward investment by quality and value;
- 1st in Europe for jobs created in Research and Development;
- 1st in Europe for investment in the pharmaceutical sector; and,
- 2nd in Europe and 4th globally for the number of investment jobs per capita.