‘Spread jobs of foreign firms’

Just over half of all jobs created in Ireland by foreign direct investment (FDI) last year were in locations outside of Dublin.

There were 199,877 people employed in Ireland last year by overseas companies and 11,842 of these represented newly-created jobs in 2016.

Of the new jobs, 5,641 were created in Dublin and the Mid-East, 1,827 were created in the South-West, 1,664 went to the West, and a further 1,516 were created in the Mid-West.

Some of the regions with the least amount of job-creation were in the South-East with 577 new positions there in 2016. There were 559 in the border regions and just 58 created in the Midlands.

These figures were released yesterday by IDA Ireland, the government agency with responsibility for attracting foreign direct investment into the country.

Speaking at the release of the IDA’s annual results, was Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor. She said it was essential that jobs growth, as a result of foreign direct investment in Ireland, was experienced right across the country.

“So can we do more when it comes to FDI? We are already world leaders in this particular field but yes, despite the challenges we face, I think we can and I know that we can.

“For a start, I want to see more investment into regional Ireland in the coming years and that is a priority of mine, a priority of the Government and a priority of IDA Ireland and that is why the agency is committed to increasing investment into every region of Ireland by 30%-40% by 2019,” the minister said yesterday.

“The emphasis that we have collectively placed on this strategy is already achieving results — 52% of all jobs created by IDA clients in 2016 were based outside of Dublin.

“I’d also like to see a wide a spread of regional investment as possible so that the benefit is also spread wide,” she added.

Ms Mitchell O’Connor also stated, that from her departmental brief over the last eight months, she has met many people in the various regions of Ireland who are benefitting from FDI-created jobs there.

“I see people excited, energised, enthusiastic and there is buy-in from the staff. Staff shows commitment and loyalty to their company, they appreciate being able to work in their region, allowing them to settle into communities, becoming part of the social fabric of their cities and towns and villages and contributing to their future’s sustainability.

“I have been told by company leaders that the work ethic here in Ireland is excellent, some say the best that they have ever encountered,” she said yesterday.

In terms of the overseas companies that invested in Ireland last year, Cylance, a software firm, opened an office in Cork, which will create approximately 150 job opportunities over the next three years.