On 6 February last, I travelled to the US West Coast for a series of high-level meetings with a range of existing IDA Ireland client companies. I was accompanied on the visit by the IDA Ireland Interim CEO. The senior officials of the tech companies which I met were all at C-suite level in those companies.
We had discussions about the technology sector in the first instance and the meetings also covered a range of other topics including :
-Ireland’s commitment to FDI and discussion of client’s operations in Ireland, including contractions in the Technology Sector and plans for the future.
-Legislation on Digital Services and the Digital Market Acts.
-Ireland’s value proposition for potential future investment.
-Irish government policy in areas of interest to international investors.
-The ongoing impact of the war in Ukraine on FDI.
As well as engaging with, and hearing from, enterprise leaders during the visit, I highlighted Ireland’s strong FDI value proposition which remains our pro-enterprise policy environment, highly educated English-speaking workforce and our membership of the European Union.