Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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746. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of international companies involved providing in social media or digital other platforms who have been operating in Ireland and the number of jobs sustained by these companies, in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21113/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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IDA has successfully attracted operations of leading technology and digital multinationals, and Ireland has proven to be an attractive location for companies that provide social media services and sell digital advertising into the EMEA market.

While there is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes “social media” the IDA generally define it as encompassing online platforms where users can share content, such as photo, video, text with other users. Companies that provide “social media” services often generate revenues through the sale of highly personalised advertising.

At a technical level, the "NACE Code" 6209 is deemed by the IDA as the best fit for companies involved in providing social media or other digital platforms. In that context, there was strong employment growth in this cohort of international companies in Ireland over the last 10 years with employment increasing threefold between 2014 and 2022. This growth and subsequent slight contraction in 2023 and 2024 is in line with the wider sectoral trends in technology companies who had expanded quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently corrected their employment levels afterwards.

The following table outlines the number of companies included in the "NACE Code" 6209, ‘Other information and computer services activities’ and the associated employment levels for the period 2014-2024.