I thank the Deputies for their comments. Deputy Morgan asked whether companies tend to concentrate in one location. There does not seem to be any clear pattern in this regard. Abbott is operating in at least six locations in the State. Yesterday's announcement must be viewed in context. The company has two similar complementary plants and there was over-capacity given the market conditions. Hence, Galway lost out but Clonmel has been growing for the past year. One cannot draw any general conclusions from specific cases. All one can say is that companies feel the pressure to reassess continually what they are doing because of the relentless competition they face globally and the changing market conditions. The speed at which things now take place probably is striking because of the possibilities that arise through the opening up of so many locations around the world.
On the question of high-level jobs or low-cost jobs, Ireland will continue to support jobs at all levels. The more basic jobs will be sustained here, however, only if there is a particular tentacle to hold them. I will sum up this point by noting it is possible to sustain 100, 200 or 300 operative jobs if one can put ten, 20 or 30 designers or engineers beside them. That is more likely to achieve this outcome. Dell in Limerick, which has more than 3,000 people engaged in manufacturing, is a good example in this regard. It has added continually to the number of engineers and technically qualified people to drive efficiency and productivity continually in that plant and as a result, the jobs are sustained. Moreover, they also attract complementary service activities and to an increasing extent are getting involved in some development work. This will help to sustain the basic activities.
It is clear that manufacturing can be sustained in Ireland, although it will be distinguished increasingly by being science or technology-based. It will employ a higher proportion of technicians than basic operatives. More engineers and scientists will be involved and, in general, the work will be better paid. Interestingly, Deputy Mary White referred to the announcement last week by Merck Sharp & Dohme in respect of Carlow. In that case, an investment of €200 million supports 170 jobs. The equation of at least €1 million per head for an investment in manufacturing is not unusual and as a result, this will be sustainable.
On the question of educational institutions and science and technology graduates, the achievements of the education system in Ireland have been of considerable benefit to our ability to win investment over the years. Ireland has at present the highest endowment in the world of science and engineering graduates in the 20 to 34 year old age group. In other words, for every 1,000 people in Ireland in the 20 to 34 year old age group, approximately 16 are either science or engineering graduates. The European average is seven, while in the United States it is less than seven. France and Finland come closest to us. While there are hundreds of thousands of such graduates in China and India, in relative terms there are not as many as in Ireland.
The challenge for us is to sustain interest in science and technology on the part of students entering third level. After 2000, a significant drop-off occurred in those opting for computer science, information technology and software development because of a reaction by children and, probably, their parents to an apparent downturn. This reaction was mistaken because that sector is growing rapidly. In addition to maintaining the numbers entering third level, it will be very important for us to attract more of those third level graduates into fourth level in order that we will have more doctors of science, engineering and so on. At present, we are about average in the league table at fourth level, although we are ahead at third level in terms of numbers.
On properties, the manner in which the IDA has handled property has changed significantly over the decades. In the 1970s and into the 1980s, the IDA was obliged to be the ground breaker. It was obliged to take on investments, construct buildings and own buildings and locations. The private sector, I am glad to say, has taken on an increasing proportion and the IDA has been able to stand back. It is involved at present in developing parks in what we call strategic sites, that is, large parks that can attract the most utility-intensive investments and on which we invite the private sector to locate buildings. At present, the IDA owns 67 units, compared with 650 buildings as recently as 1998. We have been divesting buildings in the past ten years and have realised more than €110 million from the sale of buildings during that time. Those sales and that income largely have funded our continued investment in new parks and new sites nationwide.
Of the 67 buildings we own, 40 are occupied by client companies. Of the remaining 27, 11 are available for promotion because 16 are either sold or are awaiting completion of legal transactions. Moreover, in the 1980s we took on long leases on some buildings. We have 83 such buildings, of which 47 are occupied by client companies that pay commercial rents and of the remaining 36, 33 are available for promotion. The remaining three are either in the process of being leased or sold. While we intend to move those buildings on too, it is not always easy to so do because of the long lease commitments.
Deputy Mary White asked about a supportive ecosystem. Perhaps our definition is very broad relative to that of Deputy White. It pertains to everything in the environment around companies that supports them or with which they engage in whatever fashion. This includes the education system and how it meets their needs, similar or supporting businesses, all the business services, the public services and the operating environment. It is a very broad phrase. Every element of the ecosystem must be supportive for us to be competitive, however, and this is the challenge. Ireland is highly competitive in many ways because both public authorities and private businesses are responsive. They move quickly and are flexible, which constitutes a serious competitive advantage.
This is, in a way, what we sum up in our international advertising as the Irish mind. This refers to the agility, the connections and the relationships. These elements all form part of an Irish ecosystem that cannot be recognised as readily in many other countries and that investors see and recognise when they come here and, I am glad to say, for which they reference us. Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel, has been quoted by Thomas Friedman in one of his books as saying, and I paraphrase, that Ireland is easy. It is easy to get things done. It is easy to get in and out. It is easy to deal with the Government. While sometimes we do not say that of ourselves, it is good that a global industry leader says of Ireland that it is easy and that things can be done here.
