Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 January 2016
13. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of indigenous exporting firms, the total of their exports and the percentage of all firms that are indigenous; and how Ireland compares to other small European nations. [2064/16]
View answerData is not published of the sort which the Deputy seeks.
Enterprise Ireland is engaged with over 3,000 companies which generate an estimated €20 billion in exports and overall the agency's client base employs 192,000 persons.
There are of course many enterprises in sectors not included among the sectors supported by Enterprise Ireland. These would include enterprises in Tourism, Transport, Education, Retail etc.
Since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs exports from EI supported companies have increased from an €15.2 bn in 2011 to €18.6 bn in 2014. The figures for 2015 will be available later in the first half of this year and is expected to exceed €20 bn.
The export intensity of EI clients has also seen strong increases, with exports accounting for 51% of total sales in 2014 compared to 41% in 2009. All sectors now, excluding Construction, Timber and Consumer Retail are now more reliant on exports than domestic sales.
The markets for exports from Enterprise Ireland companies have also become more diversified internationally. They operate strong programmes to encourage:
- Start-up orientated to export markets
- To encourage enterprises to become first time exporters
- To encourage exporting enterprise to scale and diversify
International data is difficult /different. However, the following table from the OECD shows that Ireland has 40 exporting SME per 10,000 of population compared to 21 in the UK, 14 in France. However Ireland ranks behind some smaller European countries such as Denmark 45 and Austria.
Table 1: TEC Database – OECD – Comparison of OECD exporting entities 2011
|
Country |
Exporting Enterprises (0-249 employees) per 10,000 Population |
Exporting Enterprises (0-249 employees) as % Total Exporting Enterprises (number) |
Exporting Enterprises (0-249 employees) as % Total Exporting Enterprises (value) |
|
Estonia |
89.11 |
99.1% |
75.6% |
|
Slovenia |
82.49 |
98.8% |
59.5% |
|
Belgium |
72.71 |
99.1% |
69.5% |
|
Slovak Republic |
54.30 |
98.6% |
38.3% |
|
Austria |
48.66 |
97.8% |
49.9% |
|
Denmark |
45.91 |
97.5% |
48.8% |
|
Hungary |
41.59 |
98.5% |
46.5% |
|
Sweden |
41.10 |
97.8% |
37.7% |
|
Ireland |
40.16 |
93.7% |
76.2% |
|
Portugal |
39.48 |
98.8% |
57.3% |
|
Italy |
33.88 |
99.1% |
56.2% |
|
Germany |
32.86 |
98.6% |
48.6% |
|
Greece |
30.31 |
98.4% |
51.9% |
|
New Zealand |
28.06 |
100.0% |
100.0% |
|
Finland |
24.22 |
96.6% |
32.2% |
|
United Kingdom |
21.15 |
97.6% |
44.1% |
|
Poland |
17.86 |
97.1% |
41.5% |
|
France |
14.82 |
96.5% |
42.9% |
|
Canada |
11.38 |
96.3% |
38.7% |
|
United States |
9.04 |
96.2% |
29.6% |
|
Turkey |
6.86 |
97.1% |
59.8% |
Source: Data extracted on 09 Feb 2015 from OECD.Stat
Source: OECD TEC by sector and size class; OECD Total population
