Ms Mary Buckley:

I thank the committee for the invitation to make a presentation. I am Mary Buckley, head of regional development for IDA Ireland and with me is my colleague, Maeve McConnon, manager of our content and business services division.

We are pleased to have the opportunity to make a presentation this afternoon on behalf of IDA Ireland. As members know, IDA Ireland is the Government agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland. Its parent Department is the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and IDA Ireland works closely with the Minister and his Department and with other Departments - the Departments of An Taoiseach, Finance and Foreign Affairs and Trade - and our sister agencies, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland in achieving foreign direct investment benefits for the Irish economy.

In 2014, 15,012 new jobs were created with 197 investments by IDA client companies. The net increase, when job losses were taken into account, was just over 7,000 which was one of the highest levels of net job creation in a decade. Total employment in IDA client companies now stands at 174,488 people, the highest level in the IDA’s history. There were job gains across most sectors that the IDA is focused on but particularly in digital media and content, technology, international financial Services, life sciences and global business services. Examples of leading investments secured during the last two years include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Limerick, Jazz Pharmaceuticals in Roscommon, Overstock in Sligo, Clearstream Technologies in Wexford, Internal Results in Portlaoise, Valeo Vision Systems in Tuam, Hollister in Mayo, Amazon in Cork, Bristol Myers Squibb Fidelity and Linked in Dublin, West Pharmaceuticals in Waterford, PayPal in Dundalk, Ericsson in Athlone, SAP in Galway, Ethicon in Limerick and online companies SurveyMonkey, Airbnb and Zendesk, also in Dublin.

The IDA estimates that for every ten jobs created by FDI, another seven are generated in the wider economy. The contribution is particularly strong in the property and construction sectors where it is estimated that approximately 10,000 people are currently employed on construction projects underway with IDA client companies, providing a considerable economic boost to a sector which has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years, as well as to the wider economy. Sub-contracting firms are particular beneficiaries of this secondary economic impact, as are local communities in general. The IDA is cautiously optimistic that Ireland is in a good position to win significant business across a range of sectors this year. Already this year, up to 250 jobs were announced at Zimmer in Oranmore in Galway, 100 jobs at AMAX in Shannon, 100 jobs at Viagogo in Limerick, 100 jobs at ABEC in Fermoy, while Guidewire Software announced expansion plans with an anticipated 60 to 80 new staff in Dublin.

Multinational client companies of the IDA have a strong culture of gender equality and women feature prominently in senior corporate roles. In locating here in Ireland, they continue that promotion of gender equality and women in Ireland have benefited greatly from their positive climate and supports. We have also seen examples where the valuable experience and high-level skills offered to women in such roles and other senior positions in multinational companies have allowed them transition effectively into their own entrepreneurial enterprises. The heads of many of Ireland’s largest multinational technology companies are women. Examples in the technology sector include Louise Phelan of PayPal, Sonia Flynn of Facebook Ireland, Cathriona Hallahan of Microsoft Ireland and Fidelma Healy of Gilt Ireland, to name just a few. The IDA’s emerging business sector has also seen a high level of women come through in senior positions such as Gina Arcari at Dita Eyewear, Kim Cahill at Squarespace, Kerrie Power at Nordeus and Orla Moran at NewRelic and Geraldine MacCarthy at Dropbox. That said, it is accepted that there is an imbalance generally in the number of women compared to men involved in technology in this country. It is also acknowledged that in order to attract more technology companies to Ireland and to allow those already here to grow we need a work force that is fully representative and that includes more women. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the so-called STEM subjects, are critical. Teaching second level female students about technology, fostering an interest in it at that level and debunking the stereotype that it is a male pursuit is crucial to encourage them to study those subjects at third level. This in turn will develop the pipeline of highly skilled and qualified graduates needed.

Creating role models for women is also very important and such women are there in considerable numbers in Ireland; we just need to make them known. The industry itself has a responsibility in that regard. There are a number of groups and campaigns in place in Ireland to support this initiative, including a new industry grouping, the multinational technology forum, whose members include women leaders from IBM, PayPal and Accenture. My colleague Maeve McConnon represents the IDA on this forum.

With companies relying increasingly on technology for a broad spectrum of functions from solving business problems to understanding consumer behaviour through analytics, big data, social media and cloud computing, new opportunities are being created for companies and, with them, exciting career opportunities for women. We need to show girls that much of computing is about problem solving and collaborative thinking and that computing can be applied in diverse and varied domains. This message must be conveyed to women and the best place to do this is at an early stage of second level education. Some advocate for it to start at the first level education stage and the recently established CoderDojo programmes help support this. While women in high profile positions are working for multinational companies, their status in the upper echelons of Irish business can have a positive effect in encouraging female entrepreneurship by providing strong role models. Networking initiatives and mentoring programmes are also important and there are a number of these in place.

Enterprise Ireland, our sister agency, highlighted in its presentation to the committee last week its solid focus on developing and promoting women entrepreneurs nationally. There are some great events and campaigns in this area in Ireland, many of which are driven by key IDA client companies. Examples include the championing by Silicon Republic, one of Ireland’s leading technology news wires, of the role of women in technology for a number of years now. Specifically, it has been running since March 2013 its Women Invent Tomorrow campaign, which is sponsored by Accenture, Intel, the Irish Research Council, ESB, Twitter, CoderDojo and SFI. The objective of this programme is to highlight the role women play in STEM and to inspire more women to follow in their footsteps. Concrete examples of Silicon Republic's work include the publishing of a list of the top 100 women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the establishment of the Female Founders Forum involving Bethany Mayer of HP, founder of the Women's Innovation Council in the USA, Cork teenager and advocate, Joanne O'Riordan, and Travis Carpico, president of Fidelity Investment Ireland. In 2014, Silicon Republic also presented a number of special recognition awards for role models in this area. At the Female Founders Forum in June 2014, delegates heard from Eventbrite president and co-founder, Julia Hartz, amongst others. The Female Founders Forum also hosted the "Women Invest Meet-Up" in November 2014, which was opened by BT Ireland. Inspire 2015 is Silicon Republic's international event which will take place in Dublin in June to connect science and technology professionals who are passionate about the future of STEM and have fresh perspectives on leadership, innovation and diversity. The IDA is a gold sponsor of this event in conjunction with SFI and Dublin City Council.

Another IDA client, LinkedIn, has driven awareness building programmes like Bring Your Parents to Work Day, which allows parents of employees access to their workplace so see their children's work and what they do. Building awareness among parents around the range of roles, functions and opportunities available in the technology industry today is paramount as parents are key influencers in their children's education and career choices. In essence, Ireland is a destination of choice for global IT skills and demand for IT graduates is only set to increase. This offers huge opportunities for Irish students over the next five to ten years, both at home and abroad.

I turn to regional business development of entrepreneurial hubs. Currently, there are over 450 IDA client companies employing approximately 75,000 people outside Dublin and Cork. While the IDA is responsible for attracting foreign investment to Ireland and its regions, it does not work alone and requires the support of local authorities, third level colleges, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, to name but a few, to ensure that the environment is right for winning and retaining investment in Ireland. In many locations throughout Ireland, clusters have been developed in particular sectors or activities. For example, the west is well known for a cluster of overseas and indigenous life sciences companies. Clusters are identified where overseas and indigenous firms co-locate within a recognisable geographical area, co-operate and compete around certain activities and establish close linkages and working alliances to improve their collective competitiveness.

While we have seen the co-location of companies in Ireland in a range of sectors and activities, this alone will not realise the synergies and additional economic impact that is possible. Effective networks, linkages and clustering initiatives will be increasingly important over the coming years to ensure competitive and innovative ecosystems.

A dynamic start-up community is an attractiveness factor for FDI generally. It is important to recognise that reinforcing a supportive start-up ecosystem in Ireland is critical both for the attraction of overseas entrepreneurs and emerging companies as well as home-grown start-ups. As I already mentioned, executives in multinational companies have established their own companies having gained experience in the multinational environment here.

IDA Ireland, through the action plan for jobs, is working in partnership with Enterprise Ireland on the area of global sourcing with the aim of bringing multinational companies in Ireland and local Irish companies together as sub-suppliers. A trade mission to multinational companies within Ireland commenced in 2014 in Cork, Galway, Dublin and Limerick. IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland collaborate in this area, particularly so when multinationals visit Ireland as a location to invest, providing opportunities for indigenous companies to pitch for business from the earliest opportunity. Another example is the Department-funded technology centres around the country. The programme Enterprise Ireland runs jointly with IDA Ireland involves clients of both agencies collaborating on technology issues which are close to market. Out of such collaboration, businesses will emerge. The Minister has a keen interest in it to make sure that it continues to grow.

Indeed, he has spoken recently about the Department's development of the regional strategy frameworks in each region with IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and other agencies. This involves working collaboratively with regional stakeholders on the development and implementation of a regional enterprise strategy. Work is currently underway in the midlands region focused on harnessing the region’s strengths and opportunities. This will be critical to ensuring that key business factors are in place to support the sustainability and growth of all enterprises – overseas, indigenous and entrepreneurial.

The importance of the education and training sector in providing a supply of talented graduates cannot be overstated. Skills are probably the most important factor in determining IDA Ireland's success in attracting high-quality FDI to Ireland. Having a dynamic talent pool in Ireland was an important component in IDA Ireland's strong performance in 2014. Ireland is considered by client companies to have a very good skills base. When making investment announcements, companies often cite skills availability as a key reason for locating here but there is no room for complacency. We must keep abreast of changing skills needs and be in a position to meet that need. To that end, IDA Ireland has forged good relationships with third-level institutions and engages on an ongoing basis with them to ensure the changing skills needs of FDI clients in terms of graduate capability are understood and are being met through continued openness to working collaboratively with clients on their skills agenda.