Minister Simon Coveney TD
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
The US Ireland bilateral trade and investment relationship remains of immense value to Ireland and is now very much a two-way “win/win” relationship. Ireland and the United States have ties that bind us together over many years and generations.
The business relationship between our countries is hugely mutually beneficial, supported by the work and commitment of the American Chamber of Commerce. It is, I would suggest, imperative that we continue to strengthen this close, prosperous, economic, and trading relationship between Ireland and the US.
US investment has made a meaningful contribution to Ireland’s economic success. US companies account for over 50% of IDA Ireland’s client portfolio, with about 900 US operations based in Ireland. They employ 210,000 directly and indirectly support another 167,000 jobs. Happily, this investment partnership is a mutual affair with Ireland the ninth largest source of FDI in the US and these Irish companies employ over 100,000 people in the US – a significant economic presence in both per-capita and absolute terms.
Ireland’s strong value proposition continues to help us attract and maintain US investment reflecting a mature, stable, resilient FDI sector in all corners of our country. US companies in Ireland have access to the EU single market, giving them access to over 447 million consumers. AmCham has been an integral partner in realising these achievements for our country.
In these uncertain times, Ireland offers a stable political and business environment. Ireland operates a competitive, pro-enterprise economy with our policy evolving to ensure we meet business needs and challenges in this ever-changing environment. We have a dynamic R&D ecosystem supported by strong incentives, including our R&D tax credit, helped by the deepening, inter-generational, presence of US companies here.
FDI success is often measured in terms of job creation and value added to the economy, but the benefit of the presence of US multinationals here goes beyond this through building relationships and fostering innovation in partnership with our indigenous companies. The value that FDI has brought to Ireland in this regard has been of great benefit to our economy and business ecosystem. Ireland has a strong base of multinational companies and there is a significant presence of multinationals across the high value sectors of life sciences, technology, and engineering, producing a “cluster effect” fostering collaboration and innovation between FDI and Irish-Owned companies which Government and our Enterprise Agencies are committed to further growing under the umbrella of our White Paper on Enterprise. To this end, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland will continue to collaborate with client companies to support their drive for competitiveness through innovation and transformation.
Companies based here are embracing research, development and innovation, sustainability, digitalisation and talent development, and Ireland is well placed to be part of these transformational initiatives. But we are not complacent and continue to adapt our policy offerings to ensure they evolve to meet the latest requirements such as prioritising digitalisation, decarbonisation, and the broader digital agenda from AI to Quantum to Digital Health and so on.
Our aim is to build and strengthen linkages between multi-national companies and our own indigenous industry through industry and innovation clustering and other initiatives and supports such that enterprises can collaborate, innovate, and increase productivity. We will continue to ensure these valuable collaborations continue and expand in collaboration with AmCham and its member companies.
In conclusion, I would suggest that the success of the Irish-US relationship is the result of decades of mutual trust and respect. In this regard, my Department and our Enterprise Development Agencies are committed to deepening this relationship and helping our trade and investment to grow even further to the benefit of both our countries.