Ireland needs to develop 'our own indigenous enterprise' in light of US tariffs, Taoiseach says

Micheál Martin was speaking at the opening of the new Dublin site of payments platform Stripe, which will serve as one of the company’s two global headquarters

Taoiseach Micheál Martin with Stripe co-founder John Collison at the opening of Stripe's new Dublin headquarters. Picture: Conor McCabe Photography. 

In light of the imposition of US tariffs on trade, Ireland needs to “move up a gear” in terms of developing “our own indigenous enterprise”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

Mr Martin was speaking at the opening of the new Dublin site of payments platform Stripe, which will serve as one of the company’s two global headquarters, with the other being located in San Francisco.

The company said it now served 70,000 Irish businesses and entrepreneurs.

At the event, in conversation with Stripe co-founder John Collison, Mr Martin said in many ways Ireland’s largest multinationals have been in the food sector, citing the Kerry Group or Tirlán, and while the country operates in other sectors “we haven't been as impactful as in the scaling up of quite a lot of those companies”.

“I'm a believer in foreign direct investment, in a global economy, and in globalisation and interdependence in the world, but I think we have to move up a gear in terms of our own indigenous enterprise,” he said.

Which means we have to continue to support the creation of new ideas and new products that become the jobs of tomorrow, but also the companies of tomorrow.

Mr Martin said the Savings and Investment Union across the EU was “very important in that regard, to try and release more venture capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises across Europe and that includes Ireland”.

The Savings and Investment Union is an EU proposal which would allow financing to flow more easily across the EU, making it potentially easier for businesses to access investment in order to grow.

"Given what's happened in the US and the tariffs and so on like that, Europe has to get smarter, tear down some of the barriers to the single market, create a capital markets union,” Mr Martin added.

On the issue of further EU integration, Mr Collison said there were still some issues  companies like Stripe experience, particularly around employing staff.

“A company like us that employs people all across Europe, dealing with the different employment rules in all the different countries, actually ends up with a significant inhibitor to scaling up in Europe, trying to build a pan-European workforce, versus the US,” he said.

When asked about US president Donald Trump and his impact, Mr Martin said he believed Mr Trump has “woken Europe up”. 

"He is forcing Europe to look at itself and say, we've got to become more economically competitive, stronger in ourselves and I think there are positives coming out of that,” he said.

According to financial documents released last month, revenues at a Dublin-based unit Stripe last year soared by 34% to a record $5.12bn (€4.32bn). New accounts filed by Stripe Payments International Holdings Ltd show the online payments business enjoyed a $1.3bn increase in revenues, from $3.82bn to $5.12bn in 2024.

Revenues were boosted in 2024 by Stripe announcing new or expanded partnerships with some of the world’s most successful companies including Nvidia, Hertz, Best Buy, URBN and Accor.

A recent report by Axios valued Stripe at €90.8bn, passing the company’s previous peak in 2021.