Mr. Leo Clancy:

I thank the Chairman and committee for the opportunity to meet with them today. I am joined by Mr. Paul McKeown, chief financial officer and executive director of Enterprise Ireland, and Dr. Carol Gibbons, divisional manager with responsibility for regions and local enterprise. I am also joined by Mr. Padraic McElwee, chair of the Network of Local Enterprise Offices, who will address the committee shortly, and Mr. Oisín Geoghegan, former chair of the local enterprise offices. As will be noted from our strategy and presentations, close collaboration between Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices is a key priority for us.

Today, I will cover our 2021 performance and related achievements, as well as our new strategy and targets to 2024. The purpose of Enterprise Ireland is to help Irish companies to start, grow, innovate and win export sales. In this way, we support employment, regional development and sustainable economic growth. The past two years have been highly challenging for the people of Ireland and the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all of us. Our thoughts are with those who lost loved ones and livelihoods during the pandemic. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the people on the front line of our health and other public services and also those who worked at companies across the country to ensure that essential equipment was available and manufacturing and trade could continue during those difficult days.

Covid-19 has brought many challenges in relation to Irish business. Key issues at the height of the pandemic included immediate liquidity pressures, a reduction in customer demand in certain sectors and supply chain issues resulting in increased operational costs. The rapid move to remote working further added to these challenges. Over the past two years, under the sustaining enterprise fund, Enterprise Ireland approved €183.1 million in funding to 740 companies, sustaining 30,000 jobs across the country. We supported over 8,000 companies with advice and guidance on dealing with Covid-19. We also provided direct support to companies unable to travel overseas through our network of 40 offices around the world. These significant supports made a very important difference to company performance and have led to the results we are now seeing in recovery.

Enterprise Ireland client companies saw strong employment growth in 2021 and the highest increase in net jobs created by Enterprise Ireland client companies in a single year, at 11,911 net jobs. Employment increased across all economic sectors.In total, 68% of new jobs created were outside Dublin. The positive jobs figures saw increases in employment across all regions with, for example, employment increasing by 9% in the north west and west and by 7% in the south east. Our teams internationally helped Irish companies to win 1,375 overseas contracts and helped 184 companies enter new markets despite the pandemic-related restrictions. In 2020, companies supported by Enterprise Ireland spent €29 billion in local economies across the country.

In terms of 2022 and beyond, this is a time of very significant change. The world of business and the world in general are being transformed by factors such as climate change, the accelerated adoption of technology and changing trends in globalisation. There are also immediate concerns in the global and Irish economies, including inflation, skills availability, continuing uncertainty arising from Covid-19 and the changed trading relationship with the UK, all of which have the potential to impact on the competitiveness of the Irish enterprise base. All of these trends represent both challenge and opportunity.

In the context of that changing global environment, we launched our three-year strategy, Leading in a Changing World, which is supporting a vision for Irish enterprise to 2030. Underpinning our vision for Irish enterprise are five strategic ambitions, which provide the key areas of focus for our strategy. Our ambitions are for Ireland and Irish enterprise, as well as for the organisation we wish to be and the service we offer to our clients. The first pillar of our strategy is seeing Irish companies continue to deliver sustainable employment and economic growth at national and regional level. In this context, we are planning to assist the creation of 45,000 new jobs over the period of the strategy, maintaining a strong regional focus. We are also targeting a significant increase in the level of exports from Irish companies of all sizes to €30 billion, as well as the overall number of Irish companies exporting.

In terms of the second pillar, Enterprise Ireland will target fostering further entrepreneurship, leading to increased start-up activity across the country and this will be done in collaboration with the LEOs. We will also put specific focus on scaling of companies, enabling Irish firms to grow faster and further in global markets, including through increased leadership capability. We are targeting support to 450 early stage companies over the next three years, growing our high potential start-up cohort by 20% over the previous strategy.

Our third pillar is for our clients to achieve increased productivity through higher levels of operational focus, more innovation and further digital adoption. We are targeting a research and development spend of €1.4 billion by Irish companies to support this activity. In terms of the fourth pillar, in line with Government climate action targets for enterprise and with an increased global focus on environmental, social and governance requirements, Enterprise Ireland will work with Irish enterprises to transform their sustainability performance. We will also work to enable innovative Irish companies to realise global opportunities from the low carbon transition, accelerating Ireland’s green tech sector. By way of the fifth pillar, Enterprise Ireland will focus on being a future-ready, highly connected, agile organisation that can help Irish companies at all stages of development.

As I mentioned, a key focus for us will be to collaborate closely with our colleagues in local enterprise offices around Ireland to achieve these goals. That closer integration is a key theme in our strategy document, about which Mr. McElwee and Mr. Geoghegan will speak further shortly. We will also continue to strengthen our relationship with IDA Ireland to ensure that Irish enterprise has access to and benefits from the multinational base here in Ireland.

Our focus on continuing to build the innovation capabilities of Irish enterprise is a very important one and we will continue to work with colleagues across Government and industry to strengthen our research and innovation base. As I outlined, Irish enterprise is well placed to recover and continue to grow following two very challenging years, but challenges continue for companies and we must continue to build and strengthen the Irish enterprise base across all sectors and regions. Enterprise Ireland, working with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and our colleagues in the local enterprise offices, has a key role to play in every community across Ireland.

I welcome any questions and I again thank the Chairman and the committee for the opportunity to engage with them today.