Vol. 558 No. 6
74 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which she has succeeded in encouraging new investment here; if her attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed by potential investors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25261/02]
The issue of attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland is statutorily charged to IDA Ireland, for which it is a day to day operational issue.
The significant global economic slowdown currently being experienced, especially in IT, impacted on the agency's results for 2001 and it ended the year with a small net loss of 2.8% in IDA assisted jobs in overseas companies – the first such loss in 15 years – despite the positive performance in other sectors. This was acknowledged in the agency's annual report and accounts for 2001.
In absolute terms, however, the number of jobs created in 2001 was still very high at 13,514, higher than every year prior to 1997. Indeed, the period from 1992 to 2001 inclusive saw increases of almost 44% in the number of foreign direct investment companies operating in Ireland, and over 75% in permanent employment in these companies.
The level of foreign direct investment in Ireland, relative to the size of the economy, is one of the highest in the world and certainly one of the highest in Europe. Ireland has for a long time received a far higher proportion of FDI inflows into the EU than our 1% of the population would suggest. In 2000, Ireland got 10% for instance, a large proportion of it from the United States.
Ireland's recent economic success has changed its profile as a location for investment. IDA is now competing for a different type of business to the labour intensive manufacturing which we so successfully won over the past four decades, because we were a largely low cost location. Basic operative skills are now available at lower cost throughout the developing world. Improving communications facilitate businesses to locate parts of their value chains in distant locations.
Ireland's future success will be dependent on our ability to achieve an environment where research and knowledge, high level skills and expertise, high quality infrastructure and business services, are combined in that flexible and creative way which is almost uniquely Irish. Foreign direct investment will feed into that future operating model and will be essential to its success, but it will be increasingly integrated and interwoven with Irish business which is itself ever more international. The further transformation to being innovation driven, will not be instant, but it will need to progress quickly so that we are recognisably different, yet again, by 2010. In the meantime, we need to continue winning foreign direct investment at higher value levels using some of the advantages and tools that have been so successful for us to date.
