Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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303. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on recent ESRI reports (details supplied) and the data showing that the vast majority of export earnings in 2015 were generated by foreign companies. [23827/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The evidence provided by the report, Expanding and diversifying the manufactured exports of Irish-owned enterprises April 4, 2017, undertaken by the ESRI on behalf of my Department and Enterprise Ireland, highlights the balance of exports between multinational corporations and indigenous enterprises. This research on manufacturing exports examines how firms launch, adapt, diversify and grow their exports and provides insights into the opportunities, risks and challenges of operating in the global marketplace.

It shows that exporting is highly concentrated in a relatively small percentage of firms and that most exporters sell a small number of products to few markets.  11% of highly globalised Irish-owned firms (exporting more than 20 products to over 20 destinations) account for 46% of total exports. The picture for foreign-owned firms shows that the 40% of firms with over 20 products to more than 20 markets accounted for almost 80% of export volumes.

The value of exports is dominated by a relatively small group of exporters. Whilst the largest proportions of exporting firms are Irish-owned and small and medium-sized, the most export value is accounted for by large, foreign-owned firms.

Many of the key features of Ireland’s export behaviour and export performance identified in this research are also present in other small open economies. For example, exports in Belgium are concentrated amongst large and most productive firms; in Denmark, largest exporters have the highest share of total exports; in Hungary foreign ownership is important in export patterns; and in Luxembourg 10% of exporters account for 91% of export value.

Notwithstanding Ireland’s unique position with respect to different export behaviour by indigenous and foreign-owned firms, this research shows the similarities Ireland shares with such countries.