IDA client companies commit to more than 10,400 new jobs so far this year

The agency has already secured 190 foreign direct investments in 2026

Dónal Travers and Mary Buckley, IDA Ireland executive directors; with enterprise minister Peter Burke; chief executive of IDA Ireland Michael Lohan; and Feargal O’Rourke, chair of IDA Ireland.

IDA Ireland secured 190 foreign direct investments during the first half of this year, with commitments to create 10,410 jobs, new figures show, as the agency is already trending towards beating its 2025 record year.

According to the agency, of the 190 investments announced between January and June, 54 were first-time investors, 39 were expansions by existing companies, 57 were research, development, and innovation investments, 31 talent development projects, and nine green capital investments.

Regional activity remains strong, with 98 regional projects representing 52% of total investments won in that period.

IDA Ireland chief executive Michael Lohan said the results so far this year, as well as last year, “demonstrate the continued strength of Ireland’s FDI proposition and the confidence global companies have in Ireland as a location to establish, scale and transform”.

“Our focus remains on competing strongly for the next generation of investment and ensuring FDI continues to deliver impact across all regions for the Irish economy.” 

Among the most significant foreign direct investments announced during the first six months of the year were: Qualcomm’s €125m investment in its Cork site; Novo Nordisk’s €432m investment in its Cork site; as well as Canadian firm OpenText’s decision to create 400 jobs between Cork and Galway as part of a €105m investment.

In addition, Apple announced the opening of its new Hollyhill 5 building in Cork, in addition to the opening of its new Dublin office in February, while Boston Scientific announced a €75m investment in its Galway site, including the expansion of its R&D capabilities.

The US continues to dominate the investments, accounting for between 60%-65%, according to Mr Lohan, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific.

In addition to the results of the first half of this year, IDA Ireland also published its annual report for 2025, which showed 323 total investments approved with 18,249 jobs gained.

Mr Lohan said 2025 was a “record year” for the agency, which came during “one of the most turbulent years from an international investment perspective”.

He added the investment projects were up 6% so far this year, compared to the same period last year, and job numbers were seeing a “marginal increase” 

“Last year, our job approvals at mid-year were just over 10,000, this time about 10,400,” he said.

In 2025, the IDA supported 1,884 companies — which employed a combined 312,468 people in Ireland. Of that total, there were 1,002 US firms who employed 218,567 people.

The sector which saw the largest increase in employment among IDA Ireland client companies was “modern manufacturing”, which increased 3.5% to just under 115,000. The next highest increase was “traditional manufacturing”, which was up 1.5% to just under 23,000.

On the issue of Ireland’s housing and infrastructure issues, and whether it is a concern for companies considering investing in Ireland, Mr Lohan said “we all understand that there are carrying capacity challenges” and housing “does come up”.

However, he added other countries were facing similar issues and “we're not unique in terms of having those carrying capacity challenges that others do”.

"What we are very clear on in Ireland, and what companies really recognise is that we have a committed plan. The national development plan is very much focused on those deliveries,” he said, adding the Government's commitment to the plan was very reassuring to investors.