Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

In 2009 there were major reductions in industrial jobs around the world - the number of new industrial jobs was low - and Ireland was not immune from these developments. The main cause of the job losses which occurred was excess capacity in the international recession and arose from a restructuring process which went on in industry in Ireland and around the world. Overall job numbers in individual companies have been reduced at their plants around the world. Some losses due to relocation at the lower end of the value added scale have been phased out as these activities became uncompetitive in particular locations. However, the manufacturing and internationally-traded services sectors in Ireland have begun to recover in the last two years and exports have performed strongly. They have been less affected by Ireland's difficulties in banking and the public finances than other sectors. They have been in a position to avail of improvements in competitiveness such as reductions in Irish pay costs, energy costs and rental costs.

There are many opportunities in technology and innovation which are giving Ireland a competitive edge. We have established strong clusters in innovative sectors such as medical devices, ICT and the pharmaceutical and financial sectors which continue to perform well. Ireland is well placed to exploit opportunities in new sectors such as cloud computing and digital gaming, life sciences and clean-tech industries. We are building on investments made in the research and development capability of our higher education institutes working collaboratively with industry.

Import substitution in the area of public procurement offers opportunities for some enterprises. However, to build scale most successful companies must also must develop an export market and Enterprise Ireland focuses on moving companies into a position to penetrate overseas markets.

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