Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are about making sure that we create jobs. Let us put it in context. Some 140,000 people are directly employed in more than 700 US firms in Ireland, which accounts for 74% of all IDA-supported employment. US firms contribute €3 billion to the Irish Exchequer in taxes and an additional €13 billion in expenditure in the Irish economy in terms of payroll, goods and services. Considering that US investment in 2015 accounted for 74% of all foreign direct investment in Ireland, it is important that we not only support but work with the US firms that form a critical part of Ireland's jobs, infrastructure and industries. Those figures are coming from the US chamber of commerce, not from Government or from me.