Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Under our Action Plan for Jobs we have targeted the winning of new Foreign Direct Investment and have taken measures to ensure that such companies have access to the talent they need, the supports for innovation and a good business environment. This strategy has been successful for the country. We have 135,000 more people in work today than were employed when the Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) process was launched in 2012.Dublin as our capital city is home to many ambitious and creative enterprises and a deep pool of talent. It has been particularly successful in winning FDI. In the past four years, over 17,000 extra people are at work in IDA companies in Dublin. This is in contrast to a loss of 4,000 jobs in the previous three years. In 2014 there was an increase of 3,700 at work in Dublin based companies supported by the IDA.

My Department published “Enterprise 2025”on 12th November, which recognises that urban areas will play a key role in realising the potential of our regions throughout Ireland, and Dublin as Ireland's main national access point is a key attractiveness factor for any ultimate location in Ireland.

Dublin is recognised as one of Europe’s leading business locations and is now an internationally renowned cluster for technology and financial services companies. The city has been a spectacular success in terms of Foreign Direct Investment as it hosts many of the world’s leading companies such as Google, Facebook, Oracle and Pfizer, All of these multinationals leverage the abundance of infrastructure and utilities available in the capital to run their operations.

Dublin has a unique value proposition based on its critical mass, skills offering, infrastructure and track record in winning valuable investment commitments over the years and is well placed to win further investment in the future.

However I am not complacent about this performance and will be aiming to strengthen its competitive position in the context of the Dublin Regional Action Plan for Jobs.