Ireland’s FDI economic impact remains strong reflecting steady delivery of growth and transformative investments
Ireland’s proposition for FDI investment remains strong according to IDA Ireland following publication of its mid-year results for 2024 alongside its latest Annual Report. IDA Ireland continues to deliver an exemplary performance across foreign direct investment indicators as set out in its 2021-2024 strategy Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth, having exceeded on targets relating to the total number of investments, job approvals, regional investment and number of sustainability projects supported by the agency.
In line with this performance, the first six months of this year saw IDA Ireland support 131 investments, 74 of which are planned for regional locations, enabling the future delivery of 8,900 jobs to the economy against an increasingly challenging global operating environment.
New investments secured by the inward investment agency since January include Pentagon Technologies whose state-of-the-art facility in Dundalk will create 100 jobs; automotive fleet manager, Element Fleet Management that is to set up a global leasing centre in Dublin creating 70 jobs; Evernorth Health Services which is to locate a new innovation hub in Galway that will create 100 jobs; and Motorola Solutions, who recently announced its new global R&D Centre in Cork with plans to recruit 200 highly skilled staff to design technologies vital to the company’s global footprint of customers.
In addition to companies newly investing in Ireland this year, IDA Ireland has also announced a number of significant, transformative investments of scale from existing clients, such as IBM Ireland’s announcement in May that it would create 800 high-value roles across its sites in Dublin, Cork and at its subsidiary Red Hat in Waterford; and Bristol Myers Squibb’s $400 million investment which will create 350 jobs, bringing the total number employed at its campus in Dublin to over 1,000 people.
In its Annual Report 2023, IDA Ireland has called out the imperative of safeguarding the competitiveness of its client base, and that of the country, as the global FDI landscape becomes increasingly challenging and complex. Ireland needs to remain agile as it evolves and adapts to emerging sectors and a more dynamic and highly competitive global landscape. The agency is committed to continuing to work with stakeholders to ensure ongoing investment and development in areas such as talent, infrastructure and energy supply which are central to the country’s competitiveness and critical to continued FDI success in Ireland.
Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, said:“Ireland continues to be recognised as a highly stable and attractive location for global investment. Our country has a reputation for being agile, with an economy underpinned by a dynamic ecosystem of global companies, indigenous enterprise and academia working in collaboration. Government remains committed to ensuring the right polices are in place to facilitate the development of appropriate skills, infrastructure, and innovation to facilitate strong levels of FDI into the future.”
Michael Lohan, CEO IDA Ireland, said: “Ireland’s proposition as a location for FDI investment remains strong. Against the backdrop of an intensely competitive global environment and the proliferation of industrial policies, it is imperative that IDA Ireland continues to attract and win new investments whilst at the same time continuing to support existing clients in their investment endeavours across the twin transition of sustainability and digitalisation.
“Ireland has a track record of being nimble, demonstrating a level of agility that will be key to ensuring future success. IDA Ireland is partnering with our clients on delivering competitiveness-enhancing, transformative investments concentrating on R&D, digitalisation, sustainability and talent development to ensure the FDI pipeline remains robust.”
“I am very pleased to have welcomed several investments of significant scale in these areas so far this year that will deliver real and far-reaching impact to the economy. I am confident we will see more of these types of investments in the coming years. As we formulate the new IDA Ireland strategy for 2025 and beyond, we are committed to working with our stakeholders in furthering Ireland’s value proposition for enterprise development.”
IDA Ireland’s Annual Report 2023 is available for download here.
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Pictured (left to right): IDA Executive Director Mary Buckley, Minister Peter Burke, IDA Chairman Feargal O’Rourke and IDA CEO Michael Lohan outside the IDA Ireland HQ.
