Mr. Feargal O'Rourke:

I am delighted and honoured to attend today's meeting as the new chair of IDA Ireland. It would be remiss of me were I not to begin by paying tribute to my predecessor, Mr. Frank Ryan, who served as chair of IDA Ireland for the past ten years, having previously had a successful executive career with both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. His wise council and thoughtful leadership played a key role in the success of IDA Ireland during that period. Moreover, Frank is one of life's most decent human beings and has been extremely helpful to me in the handover period.

The committee may not be familiar with my background. I am from Athlone, where I grew up and went to school. I came to Dublin to study in University College Dublin, UCD, graduating with a B.Comm and a diploma in professional accounting. While I have spent two thirds of my life in Dublin, I still consider myself to be a proud Westmeath man. On 8 October 1986, I joined what was then Price Waterhouse with the intention of qualifying as a chartered accountant and returning home to Athlone, but 37 years later to the day I retired from PwC, having had a wonderfully fulfilling professional career beyond any expectations I had when I joined in 1986. I was fortunate to work with some great leaders in the organisation locally and globally and with great clients of the organisation. In 1996, I became a tax partner in the firm and worked a significant portion of my career in the area of foreign direct investment, FDI. For most of my career, I worked extensively, but not exclusively, with household names on the west coat of the US. I was privileged to work with many of the companies that now rank among the largest FDI employers in Ireland.

I held several management roles in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and the Irish firm, culminating in my being head of the PwC tax practice from 2011 to 2015 and being elected managing partner in 2015. I was re-elected unanimously for a second term in 2019.

I was appointed as chairman of IDA Ireland by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, on 3 January 2024. In the seven weeks since then I have been busy reading my way into the role and meeting team members, wider stakeholders, and of course my predecessor and the CEO. Two weeks ago, I chaired my first board meeting following an informal icebreaker virtual meeting to introduce myself and the two other new board members to the rest of the board. I was fortunate to be appointed on the day of the annual staff conference, which I attended, as that allowed me a timely immersion into the agency.

This year, in fact, last week, IDA Ireland marked its 75th anniversary, reflecting Ireland's long-standing track record of positioning FDI as a key pillar of the country's enterprise policy. IDA Ireland's mission is to partner with multinational companies to win and develop foreign direct investment, providing jobs, economic impact, and opportunity for the people of Ireland.

The agency is a world-class organisation. That is not just my own view. Over the course of my 37 years in the professional services industry, I was repeatedly told this by clients who had experience of being courted by a variety of inward investment agencies from around the world. Punching above its weight and populated by a team who metaphorically get blood on their shirts in trying to win projects and investments for Ireland, IDA Ireland is the envy of many other countries who seek to replicate the success we have had as a country, over many decades, in attracting FDI here.

The success of IDA Ireland is systemically important to the well-being of the Irish economy and, by extension, Irish society. IDA Ireland clients directly account for 11% of total employment nationally and make a major economic contribution that ranges from an annual spend of €35.8 billion on payroll and Irish sourced goods and services, to €15.5 billion on capital expenditure and more than €7 billion on in-house research, development and innovation. These figures tangibly demonstrate the scale and scope of FDI in Ireland today.

While 2023 was a turbulent year, it was one in which Ireland's FDI performance remained strong. Direct employment in IDA Ireland-client companies now stands at 300,583 with good sectoral diversity. We saw particularly welcome momentum in transformation-focused investments last year. IDA Ireland approved 25 sustainability projects focused on carbon abatement and building Ireland's green economy. New research, development and innovation and talent development projects were won with associated client spend commitments of €1.4 billion and €77 million, respectively. Overall, 248 investments were approved by the agency in 2023 with the potential to create almost 19,000 jobs as these projects come on stream.

Regional development plays a key part in our story of success as well, with over half of all investments won last year going to locations outside Dublin - 132 investments in total. IDA Ireland's 2021-24 strategy includes published investment targets for the eight regions of the country. We expect to achieve those targets, building on the record levels of regional investment secured since 2015. This success, in a global FDI context where investors typically favour large urban centres or large mega sites, is testament to IDA Ireland's partnership with a broad range of regional and national stakeholders and to key initiatives such as the regional property programme and Digital Manufacturing Ireland. As we enter the final year of our current four-year strategy, we have made considerable progress and expect to achieve or surpass the range of targets set at the strategy's outset.

In sporting terms, IDA Ireland is like Limerick in hurling or Shamrock Rovers or Manchester City in football. We have a fantastic record of success, but once the year or season is over, we have got to do it all over again. We can survive a year where we are not top of the pile, but we cannot afford to enter a period where we are living off past glories. In my initial draft I mentioned some counties and teams but I will pass on referring to them on this occasion.

The single biggest task for the board this year will be working with management as we collectively shape a strategy for the organisation that will get us towards the end of the decade. That process had already started prior to my joining the board and will continue through 2024. This is against the backdrop of significant geopolitical uncertainty, with the resultant impact on the business environment. They include a more muted pace of growth in the global economy; a more active industrial policy from some competitor nations; the challenge of climate change and the opportunity of the green transition; companies globally grappling with the next step on their diverse digitalisation journeys; and of course the artificial intelligence, AI, revolution that is taking place.

Ireland's ability to compete in this changing world is also dependent on having the right set of enabling conditions in place. The national competitiveness challenges encountered during our current strategy are well understood at this stage and include issues relating to energy costs and renewable energy provision, housing, infrastructure, and utilities. With countries around the world vying to win the race for the next generation of FDI growth, the opportunity cost of not addressing these issues in a timely manner, particularly sustainable energy supply, risks being sizeable. Against this national and international background, IDA Ireland's focus for 2024 will be on developing a new organisational strategy while at the same time ensuring the organisation continues to do what it has done well for so many years.

Our approach in 2024 recognises the need to help the Irish operations of global firms transform to thrive in a fast-changing world. IDA Ireland is actively partnering with client companies on investments in talent development, digitalisation, research and development, innovation, and sustainability, including decarbonisation.

Ireland's existing enterprise and talent base places us in an enviable position as the twin green and digital transitions reshape the global economy. With the requisite national enabling conditions in place – aligned to emerging FDI attractiveness factors such as AI skills and renewable, reliable, affordable energy – we will be well placed to capture new investment opportunities. Over the coming months, agency's strategy development process will focus on these new opportunities and the steps we need to take as an agency and as a country to realise them. At the same time, we will assess how best we can continue to support our existing client companies to maintain and enhance the economic impact and opportunity that they provide for people throughout the country.

While I expect the pipeline of projects to continue to be strong as we move through 2024, the challenges we face to stay to the forefront of attractive locations to invest in are significant. However, I assure this committee that the board and the entire organisation understand these challenges. I have no doubt we will give our all to rise to them.