Intel Ireland, Leixlip, Co. Kildare
over its competition in decades past, now occupy the
place of entry-level requirements in the increasingly
competitive international market.
In the current global climate, international FDI
flows overall have been reduced by 40%, requiring
investment promotion agencies globally to
continually adapt and add value in order to attract
new investment projects, and equally importantly, to
keep existing ones in place, lest they decide another
destination can offer them greater advantages.
It is in this regard that the real ingenuity of
Ireland as a country, and the IDA as a first port of
call for the international foreign direct investor,
really comes into its own. Ireland’s most inherent
advantage is the small size of the island, and the
innate ability of its people to adapt dynamically
to new realities. It has done so before in the past,
moving entirely from an agricultural society, to a
manufacturing economy, and again to a knowledgeintensive national ecosystem. It is this unmatched
vibrancy of the country as a whole that will serve as
the bedrock for the speedy evolution of Ireland into
a smart, green, innovation economy, based on the
twin pillars of foreign direct investment and exports.
Transformation
Cognizant of this fact, IDA Ireland’s mission at this
crucial juncture in the nation’s history, is to exploit
this inherent advantage by communicating this
message to the country’s international partners and
would-be investors. Over the last three years, the
nation has regained its cost competitiveness and the
availability of skills has increased.
To date, the incentives of Track Record, Talent, Tax
Regime and Technology have attracted nearly 1,000
MNCs to Ireland. Transformation will be the factor
that retains them, and serves to attract more.
Transformation lies at the very heart of what
“Innovation Ireland” is all about. A geographical
base of 70,273 sq km, the country is inhabited by
4.4 million people, 34% of whom are under the age
of 25. Located at the crossroads of transatlantic
business, Ireland’s infrastructure provides proven
access to the EU market of 500 million people.
According to Barry O’Leary,
“IDA clients consistently face internal competition
for additional investment and new mandates from
their parent groups. The Irish operations need
to be involved in a process of almost continuous
transformation if jobs are to be maintained and
losses minimised. To support this transformation
agenda, IDA has developed incentive programmes
to encourage and drive investment in areas such as
technology and skills uplift; product and process
development through Research and Development
(R&D) supports; and energy efficiency investments.”
Research, Development &
Innovation
A central column of Ireland’s transformation agenda
is Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I).
There has been an average increase of 10% per year
in investment in knowledge and higher education.
This compares to an average of 3% in the EU and
the OECD. IDA client companies spend nearly €1.2
billion per annum on RD&I, accounting for nearly
three-quarters of all RD&I monies spent in the
country by business.
17