Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 272: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he and State employment agencies are making efforts to attract research and development divisions of manufacturing companies previously located here but which have relocated manufacturing operations overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15205/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Many of the recent jobs losses which have occurred are as a result of the restructuring process which is going on in industry in Ireland and around the world. While some jobs in Ireland have been phased out as these activities become uneconomic in an Irish context, operations remain in Ireland and we hope that other higher-value jobs can be added as time goes on. Manufacturing is the bedrock on which the growth in Ireland's FDI was founded. While manufacturing is also in transition, it has been a significant segment of the IDA portfolio and it will continue to remain so. Higher technological investment and higher value products will be the hallmark of future manufacturing operations in Ireland. The sector will be characterised by increased international competition and enhanced output volumes due to investments in technology and automation. These operations will be knowledge, capital and skills intensive, characterised by a participative innovative culture where management and staff continuously collaborate to drive innovation, productivity, agility, learning and adaptability. Globally, manufacturing jobs, as a percentage of total employment, will continue to decrease, even in lower cost locations.

In March 2010, IDA published its strategy for the forthcoming decade, Horizon 2020. This presents their view of how the environment in which they operate will change over the next ten years, and the opportunities for FDI created by global trends. Horizon 2020 sets out IDA's targets for the 5-year period to 2014 as well as the direction IDA will take in the pursuit of these goals. The investment targets for this strategy include the creation of 105,000 new jobs in Ireland from the period 2010-2014 with 50% of these investments to be based in locations outside of Dublin and Cork.

IDA's strategy includes winning as many new jobs as possible each year and giving equal priority to maintaining existing jobs. The Agency recognises that jobs losses occur every year for a variety of reasons including changing competitiveness, competition from sister sites, product and technology lifecycles or global location rationalisation as a result of mergers and acquisitions.

To address the need to maintain jobs in Ireland, IDA is actively encouraging its clients to strongly engage in transformation initiatives, and is assisting them in programmes to improve company-wide competitiveness; enhance use of new technologies; grow the skills of the business; engage in research, development and innovation; develop new business processes; make company operations more energy efficient.

2010 saw IDA win a number of high-value RD&I projects for Ireland with over €500 million in new RD&I investment secured. RD&I plays a strategic role as part of Ireland's FDI landscape embedding existing employment and setting the groundwork for increased future employment. Some of the companies that announced RD&I investments in 2010 were: IBM (Smarter Cities) Dublin, United Technologies Cork, HP Galway, PAS Technologies Cork, Analog Limerick, Luminson Galway, and Covidien Galway.