Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the 2018 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook Ireland was ranked 12th in the world, as compared with 24th in 2011. As such, we have made substantial progress in recent years. We continue to attract high levels of foreign direct investment, FDI. IDA Ireland had another record year for job creation in 2018 in a highly competitive global market. This shows that internationally Ireland is considered a strong place in which to do business. We have a young, well educated workforce and so there is a strong talent pool here. For companies experiencing difficulty finding skills here our employment permits system is flexible, which I demonstrated recently in terms of the changes to the system in respect of companies with genuine difficulties sourcing workers in the construction, meat processing, horticulture and dairy sectors. In any country, there will always be challenges sourcing workers. What is important is how one responds to those challenges. The new Future Jobs Ireland 2019 initiative will have a key role to play in that regard.

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