Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which the relevant section of his Department has carried out a close examination of cost factors affecting industry and business in this country with particular reference to identifying the reasons for relocation to other jurisdictions; the best way that these issues can be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27895/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Competitiveness Council (NCC), which is independent of my Department, reports to me on costs and other competitiveness issues in the Irish economy through its suite of reports, including the annual benchmarking report "Ireland's Competitiveness Scorecard" and the "Costs of Doing Business in Ireland" report.

The latest report on Costs of Doing Business in Ireland, published in June 2011, analyses Ireland's cost competitiveness across five key business inputs: Labour costs, Property costs, Utility costs, Business and Professional Services costs and Indirect business costs such as consumer prices. The main findings of the report are that the Irish economy continued to show an improvement in its competitiveness in 2010, building on a gradual restoration of performance since 2008.

Costs of doing business in Ireland have reduced in relation to labour, property, utilities and business services. However, in order to improve our relative competitiveness position, the pace of cost reduction must outstrip that of our trading partners. The NCC points out that some of the cost reductions achieved to date are cyclical in nature rather than structural, and more needs to be done to ensure that costs do not rise again as the economy recovers.

The Costs of Doing Business report made a number of recommendations to embed competitiveness in the economy in a structural way. I have brought these recommendations to the attention of my Ministerial colleagues in Government and I will continue to work with them to identify further actions that can be taken to improve our competitiveness, reduce costs to business and remove obstacles to employment creation.

There are many differing and complex factors that can influence a firm's decision to relocate in today's modern globalised economic environment. Companies adjust their plant location and utilisation strategies to address matters such as accessing new markets, moving production nearer to customers, meeting firm or market specific customer relationship issues and accessing technology, in addition to business takeovers and consolidations.

For much of the last decade, company location has been positive overall for Ireland. IDA Ireland has continued to attract and retain high value investments from leading global corporations. The combined influence of Ireland's improving competitiveness, our commitment to maintaining our 12.5% corporate tax rate, the development of our national infrastructure, the Government's investment in science, technology and innovation, and our strong skills base has been instrumental in this regard, and will continue to attract and increase the level of inward investment in Ireland. To date in 2011, the IDA has announced investment decisions which will create over 4,500 jobs in the Irish economy as the investments come on stream.