Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2022
104. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of new IDA and Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs in County Carlow to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62106/22]
View answerIDA Ireland has worked hard to create a welcoming environment for FDI in all parts of the country and the strong regional spread of jobs and investment in the latest IDA results demonstrates the Government's commitment to regional development. Over half of investments in 2021 went to regional locations, and under IDA's current Strategy half of all investments from 2021 to 2024 will be targeted to regional locations.
IDA Ireland reported strong annual results for 2022 on Monday 12 December with a substantial increase in growth in FDI employment on 2021, numbers are now at the highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) employment level ever.
Growth in employment in 2022 brought the number of people employed in the FDI sector in Ireland to over 300,000. The results show continued substantial growth in FDI in 2022 despite a difficult global economic environment with 33,000 new jobs created in 2022.
There are 79 IDA client companies in the South-East region, employing 14,932 people. The FDI performance in the region has been strong over the past five years with employment among IDA clients increasing by 25%.
In 2021, County Carlow had 4 IDA client companies employing 1,477.
Enterprise Ireland supports companies in every county of Ireland to start and scale, innovate, and remain competitive on international markets, now and in the future. The contribution of Enterprise Ireland client companies to the Irish economy is very important, particularly from a regional and county perspective.
The 5,000 plus manufacturing and internationally traded services companies that Enterprise Ireland works with are a critical source of existing employment and job creation in every county in Ireland and are spread across a wide range of sectors. In 2021, Enterprise Ireland supported companies employed 207,894 people.
Enterprise Ireland’s Strategic Ambitions for 2022-2024 is focused on Leading in a Changing World in every county throughout the country, including Carlow, by:
- Creating and developing export-focused Irish enterprises delivering growth.
- Becoming a world-leading location to start and scale a business
- Achieving competitive advantage through customer-led innovation and digitalisation
- Leading globally on sustainability and achieving climate action targets
In 2021, County Carlow had 69 EI client companies employing 3,500.
Employment figures for both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for 2022 will be available in January 2023.
