Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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187. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of international developers and multinational corporations that entered the Irish market for the first time from 2018 to date. [6407/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Despite unprecedented challenges to Ireland’s economy in 2021, IDA Ireland’s end of year results for 2021 show that the level of foreign direct investment remained resilient.

The table below shows the number of new name multinational companies, across the manufacturing and services sector, secured by IDA between 2018 and 2021. My Department does not hold information in relation to the number of international developers active in Ireland during this timeframe.

Overall, 249 investments were gained by IDA in 2021, and of this number, 104 were new name investments, which is a great achievement. The number of people directly employed in multinational companies in Ireland grew to 275,384, with over 29,000 new jobs being created by the sector in 2021.

Competition for FDI is intense and global with virtually every country in the world is actively seeking new FDI investments. Investors have many attractive location options to choose from – countries, regions and cities. Every single job created in Ireland by an overseas company has to be fought for, against every increasing competition from a growing number of sophisticated locations.

Factors which enhance Ireland’s attractiveness to foreign investors include our pro-enterprise policy environment, our highly educated and English-speaking workforce, as well as our membership of the European Union. IDA Ireland, with the support of my Department, continues to work closely with international clients, from a range of sectors, to attract job-rich investment from overseas firms.

FDI remains a fundamentally important element of our economic model and our efforts in this area are guided by IDA Ireland’s Strategy, Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021-2024.