Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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97. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which his Department continues to attract foreign direct investment resulting in job creation into this jurisdiction; the issues most commonly raised by investors in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42939/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland has been, and will continue to be, an integral part of Ireland's economic success. Foreign owned firms contribute substantially to Ireland's exports, jobs, expenditure in the Irish economy and to Exchequer funds. FDI plays a key role in stimulating the development of new sectors in Ireland, in enhancing our research, development and innovation performance, in contributing to balanced regional development and in accelerating the achievement of critical mass within sectors.

At the end of 2012, there were 152,785 people employed in over 1,000 IDA Ireland client companies. This, in turn, results in another 100,000 spin off jobs in the Irish economy. The net effect is that 1 in 7 Jobs in the Irish economy is accounted for by FDI.

There are a number of factors which are considered by potential investors before deciding to locate here. These include:

- A pro-business and technologically advanced environment;

- An attractive corporate tax rate;

- An educated and talented workforce;

- A blend of appropriate skill sets;

- Access to world class infrastructure - road access to key cities, ports and international airports;

- a range of affordable, state-of-the-art property solutions;

- a track record of success coupled with the right attitude and ambition of its people.

In seeking to win FDI, IDA Ireland constantly promotes the availability of these factors to potential investors. Indeed, Ireland's performance in attracting FDI has been recognised internationally and these international comparisons are impressive. The 2012 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and IBM's Global Location Trends Report for 2012 have classified some of Ireland's strengths, with Ireland ranked:

- 1^st in the world for availability of skilled labour, flexibility of workforce, investment incentives and attitudes towards globalisation;

- 1^st in the world for inward investment by quality and value;

- 1^st in Europe for jobs created in Research and Development;

- 1st in Europe for investment in the pharmaceutical sector;

- 2^nd in Europe and 4^th globally for the number of investment jobs per capita; and

- 4th for corporate tax rates.

Amid significant economic challenges globally and locally, IDA Ireland achieved a strong FDI performance in 2012. There were 145 individual investments, with over 40% from companies coming to Ireland for the first time. 12,722 gross job gains were generated with 6,570 net new jobs gains across a broad range of sectors. Helping FDI clients to transform their operations within Ireland has also led to a significant reduction in employment losses, producing a strong year overall.

Despite this success, Ireland faces a highly competitive landscape, with notable strong competition for FDI arising from the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland, in particular. Nevertheless, IDA Ireland's performance in the first 6 months of 2013 has been solid with 70 FDI investments, with potential to create in the region of 7,000 jobs being secured.