Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 September 2022
163. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which a demand still exists for the location of international call centres in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45389/22]
View answerThe international call centre industry is an important sector in Ireland. Customer experience operations have been a significant employer in Ireland since the 1980s, and in 2019 it was estimated that approximately 56,000 people were employed in this sector.In recent years it has evolved from traditional call centres to language and technology-based customer interaction and customer experience centres, facilitated by the introduction of customer relationship management tools.
Ireland has continued to be a leading location for customer experience related activities due to its highly skilled and motivated multilingual talent base and favourable economic environment. Ireland’s customer experience companies serve key markets in Ireland, the UK, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the US and Canada. Increasingly, newer markets in Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America are also being served.
In 2019, IDA Ireland, along with Enterprise Ireland and the Customer Contact Management Association, published a transformation strategy for the customer experience sector. That strategy cited technology adoption, people change and services transformation as key areas of focus for the sector to remain competitive against international competition. More recently, IDA Ireland collaborated with the Customer Contact Management Association to host a Team Leader Masterclass at IDA Headquarters to share best practices within the sector.
The role of customer contact centres is evolving, and industry will need to innovate to meet the demands of increasing automation and AI. This will be achieved by providing superior customer experience and by ensuring employee training and technology uplifts align to drive business objectives. In this way, the role of the customer contact centres will continue to grow and evolve in Ireland, ensuring the industry remains strong and is competitively placed on the global stage.
Competition for FDI is intense with virtually every country in the world actively seeking new FDI investments. But where there are customers, there will always be a need for high-quality customer service. In Ireland, we offer investors in this sector skilled employees, international connectivity, as well as strong infrastructure in energy, telecommunications, and services.
IDA Ireland will work with its existing client base to assist and support their growth and expansion in Ireland and will continue to highlight Ireland’s strong value proposition to prospective overseas investors.
