Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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154. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the countries with which Ireland remains in competition in respect of foreign direct investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43859/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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My Department continues to work closely with IDA Ireland to ensure there is a strong continued pipeline of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Ireland. To that end, Ireland’s proposition for FDI investment remains competitive, as demonstrated by IDA’s results for the first half of 2024 where they supported 131 investments, 74 of which are planned for regional locations, enabling the future delivery of 8,900 jobs to the economy, against an increasingly challenging global operating environment.

Furthermore, last year, IDA reported 248 investments won for Ireland, including a record number of transformation investments in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I), Talent Development, Digitalisation, and Sustainability. Moreover, in 2023, direct employment in IDA Ireland client companies stood at over 300,000 people nationally for the second year in a row, with a record high regional employment figure of 163,471. This work is guided by the IDA's current strategy "Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth 2021-2024".

Despite many challenging global issues such as the impacts of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as a Small Advanced Economy, Ireland continues to be seen as a location of choice for new investors as well as long-established companies who choose to further invest in substantial expansions of their operations here. in that regard, Ireland offers a competitive, consistent, and transparent corporate tax regime, good access and connectivity and an excellent return on investment, as well as being an attractive environment where people want to live and work.

Competition for FDI is intense, with virtually every country in the world seeking new FDI investments. Every single job created in Ireland by an FDI company has been hard won, against competition from a growing number of sophisticated locations.

In 2024, Ireland ranked fourth place among 67 economies measured for their global competitiveness in the 2024 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking. This is the second consecutive year Ireland has been placed in the top five economies globally.

Working hand-in-hand with Government, stakeholders and other enterprise agencies including Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland partners and collaborates with international investors and companies to grow their businesses, to complete ground-breaking research and innovation, and to develop a rich, vibrant, talent capability for the needs of industry.

For decades, Ireland’s talent base has made the country a prime destination for many of the world’s top companies. Today, around 55% of people aged 25 to 34 in Ireland hold a third-level degree compared to a 40% EU average. In addition to our highly educated and skilled workforce, Ireland offers access to the larger – some 250 million strong – EU workforce. This is reflected in the strong job creation results reported to me by our enterprise agencies, including from highly-mobile FDI.

There are, nonetheless, domestic challenges that we must address as highlighted during the September Competitiveness Summit chaired by An Taoiseach in which I participated along with the Minister for Finance. However, through the cross-Government measures agreed following the Summit complemented by the White Paper on Enterprise Implementation Plan, Ireland will be well positioned to keep pace with our competitors in winning FDI. Moreover, my Department is not complacent about Ireland’s competitiveness position regarding FDI and policies, strategies and the legislative toolkit are constantly kept under review to ensure objectives set out in this critical part of the economy are met.

In recognition of the increasing competition internationally for FDI, IDA will receive an additional €15.5 million in funding next year. IDA Ireland will target significant FDI investment in 2025, with a focus on RD&I, Sustainability and Digitalisation. The additional funding will also help IDA to strengthen its team and deliver enterprise-focused property solutions across the country reflecting the Government’s commitment to Regional Development. It will also ensure that the IDA further support the decarbonisation of industrial emitters which is key to achieving the 35% reduction target by 2030.