Pearse Doherty
Question:32. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the major competitive advantage that the State has in attracting foreign direct investment. [3226/13]
View answerThursday, 24 January 2013
Questions (32)
Written answers
Attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Ireland has been one of the key pillars of Ireland’s industrial policy over the last 40 years. Ireland’s competitive advantage in this regard has been gained by the pursuit and implementation of a range of inter linked measures which include:
- The creation of the European Single Market which ensures that foreign owned companies based in Ireland have direct access to an ever increasing European market;
- Ireland’s position as the only English speaking member of the eurozone and as a country whose commitment to membership of the European Union is very strong;
- The securing of EU support for substantial investment in Ireland’s infrastructure;
- Significant investment in education by Government to create a pool of highly skilled young people;
- Increased investment by both the public and private sectors to transform Ireland into a knowledge economy;
- The Government’s stated objective to maintain our 12.5% corporate tax rate;
- Our increased competitiveness in business costs;
- The ongoing positive experiences of foreign owned companies which quickly became reference sellers; and,
- The responsiveness, agility and flexibility of Irish managers and workers.
At the end of 2012 there were over 152,000 people employed in 1,033 IDA Ireland supported companies. The challenge for IDA Ireland is to sustain, embed and grow this investment. However, as Ireland is no longer a low cost labour location, it will be necessary for IDA Ireland to continue to maximize Ireland’s competitive advantage as it targets potential investors. In this regard, IDA Ireland is 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. Drawing upon its experience, IDA Ireland is aware 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.
IDA Ireland has indicated that it will continue to exploit Ireland’s competitive advantages as it seeks to meet these requirements with a view to creating 62,000 jobs over the period 2010 to 2014 in accordance with its Horizon 2020 Strategy.