IDA Ireland achieves all targets in ‘Winning – Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019’ Strategy

Capital expenditure increased by 8% in the year to €5.9bn with the majority of that spend in Life Sciences and Technology.

There were 18 first time new R&D investment approvals for IDA client companies in 2019. The R&D staff total stands at 18,834, up 11%. The client spend on in-house R&D was €2.2bn in 2018, up 10% with a further €1.4 bn spent on outsourced R&D.

“Employment growth in 2019 was 6% compared to 2.4% nationally and IDA Ireland clients now account directly for 10.5% of national employment. We have seen employment growth across all regions and sectors. Over the lifetime of our current strategy we have won 1,209 investments in total; 562 of which are new name investments, 400 were expansions by established companies and 247 were RD&I investments, an uplift of 134% on our target and resulting in 112,327 jobs being created.  That speaks to a continued confidence in Ireland’s investment proposition as a stable and reliable location for global investors, evidenced by the number of new name companies who invested here in 2019 – 125 of the 250 investments won. 88 investments made last year were expansions by established companies, demonstrating their considerable commitment to Ireland. Indeed longevity, resilience and commitment are the hallmark of multinational companies in Ireland; one third of MNCs have been here for 20 years now, with others operating successfully for 25, 30 and more years. That longevity has been of enormous benefit to the national and regional economies. Fortunately, job losses continue to be historically low and in fact job maintenance is at an all-time high.

On regional investment Martin Shanahan said:

“54,868 jobs were created outside of Dublin over the past five years leading to 33,118 additional direct jobs (net) on the ground in regions at the end of this strategy. 110 investments were won for regions in 2019 with 5,368 net jobs created. Every region hit the five-year strategy targets of a 30% uplift in investment we set out to achieve and three regions - the Mid West, Mid East and South East exceeded 40% of targets. Investments in The Border region increased threefold since the outset of the strategy. This is clear evidence that our deliberate and focused strategy of targeting investment for regions is paying off. That includes our Regional Property Programme which has delivered seven of 11 planned advance building solutions – technological or office buildings – to offer investors attractive turnkey building solutions in regional locations. All seven of the buildings completed are now occupied by businesses, demonstrating the success of this strategy of stepping into the market where we see opportunity and can secure clients when the necessary properties aren’t being provided by the private sector.

IDA Ireland has a deliberate strategy of source market diversification. In 2019, 63% of investment came from the US and while it remains the engine of jobs growth, the amount of investment from other countries grew faster - from 30% in 2014 to 37% in 2019.
 
On the outlook for FDI Martin Shanahan said: “The FDI performance over the past five years has been unprecedented. My expectation is that this strong performance will continue into the first half of 2020. As we finalise our strategy for the period 2020-2024, which will be launched soon, we observe significant downside risk in the marketplace over the next five-year period. Those risks emanate from the possibility of an economic correction in key source markets, continued trade tensions, subdued global economic growth and from domestic challenges related to competitiveness and the carrying capacity of the economy. We have developed our new strategy to, as far as possible, withstand the challenges of global political and economic uncertainty. Our value proposition continues to be strong, we are well positioned as a gateway location to Europe and are committed members of the EU. We are business friendly and supportive. Talent continues to be an important asset. Being  competitive is more important than ever for our client companies to continue to grow and develop and as Ireland expands its footprint across the globe, seeking out new markets to win investment.”

Contact
 
Ellen Lynch
Press & PR Manager
IDA Ireland
Ellen.lynch@ida.ie 087 4112084
 
Gillian Kelly
Press & PR Executive
IDA Ireland
Gillian.kelly@ida.ie  087 1789893

Notes to Editors

IDA Ireland’s job creation performance is measured by an annual labour force survey, commissioned independently via the Strategic Policy Division of the Department of Business, Enterprise & Innovation. The results are compiled directly from responses given by IDA client companies on their current headcount numbers. This survey measures people in employment in IDA client companies at the end of the survey period only. The survey does not measure, or count, future employment intentions or future job creation plans issued as part of press announcements.
 
Brexit
Uncertainties about the outcome of the Brexit process and the unprecedented nature of the UK’s exit can make forecasting economic impacts challenging. Areas of concern include future use of land bridge and EU-UK data flows. Regulatory divergence and resulting non-tariff barriers would be among the biggest contributors to additional trade costs and GDP impacts.
 
IDA Ireland has had close to 90 individual Brexit-related investments with over 5,500 associated jobs approved since the UK’s EU referendum in June 2016. There are others where it was one of a number of considerations in choosing Ireland as a location to invest.
 
Post Brexit, Ireland’s economic and political stability, along with a continued commitment to the EU, is a core part of Ireland’s value proposition to foreign investors. As companies seek Brexit solutions that will impose the lowest possible additional costs and the least possible disruption to trade, Ireland offers a base from which to sustain access to the Single Market, to minimise uncertainty and to grow their business.
 
Dublin remains the most popular choice for financial services firms to relocate post-Brexit according to EY’s most recent Financial Services Brexit Tracker, with 28 firms having committed to relocating staff or operations to the Irish capital since the Referendum. Dublin is closely followed by Frankfurt (21), Luxembourg (19) and Paris (18).  The EY Brexit tracker identified talent, trade, technology and tax as the key themes driving FDI trends in 2018.
 
IDA Ireland will continue to work to identify and exploit any and all opportunities to win Brexit related investment for Ireland.
 
 

IDA Ireland’s Regional Property Programme

As part of IDA Ireland’s 2015-2019 strategy, IDA’s Property Division identified a significant deficit in the availability of quality property outside Dublin. Addressing this shortage has been the focus of a five-year regional capital investment programme to deliver 11 Advance Building Solutions (ABS), either technological or office buildings, on IDA lands in a number of regional locations across Ireland, including Limerick, Sligo, Castlebar, Carlow, Tralee, Waterford, Galway, Athlone and Dundalk. Seven of the nine buildings completed to date are now occupied or at an advanced stage of lease execution. The second phase of the programme is now being rolled out and includes another 11 building projects and a number of medium and large-scale infrastructure projects. Six major building projects are scheduled to commence in 2020. The programme is funded by Government capital funds and IDA property funds.

The competitive nature of the global FDI environment has intensified significantly in recent years. It is internationally proven that a proactive, functional property and infrastructural ecosystem is a key driver and differentiator in winning, sustaining and supporting FDI. In this context, IDA Ireland needs to remain competitive in the global FDI market and therefore, one of the main objectives of the current Property Strategy is to ensure that there are serviced sites with appropriate zoning, planning and required infrastructure to attract and secure FDI investment. IDA Ireland has 36 business and technology parks and 12 strategic sites across the country. The 12 strategic sites are large scale landbanks with high intensity utility infrastructure that were acquired and are developed with the aim of attracting large scale utility intensive investment. IDA’s strategy in acquiring and preparing strategic sites for the future aims to ensure our property offering is aligned to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland client needs, organisational objectives and balanced regional development.

IDA Ireland’s most recent site acquisition is a c.85.5 Ha site in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. The current property investment programme also includes the delivery of numerous enabling infrastructure projects across the existing portfolio of business and technology parks and strategic sites.
 

Headline investments won over five-year strategy:

2019

• Salesforce – Salesforce announced that it is to create 1,500 jobs over the next five years and expand its investment in Ireland, establishing ‘Salesforce Tower’, an urban campus of four interconnected buildings located on North Wall Quay within Dublin’s vibrant Silicon Docks.

• Facebook – Facebook announced plans to hire 1,000 people across 60 teams in Ireland in 2019. The jobs created span the engineering, safety, legal, policy, marketing and sales teams.

• Johnson & Johnson Vision – Johnson & Johnson Vision announced the addition of approximately 100 jobs & investment of c.€100M in the expansion of its manufacturing operations at its site in the National Technology Park in Plassey, Co. Limerick.

• JRI America, the technology company supporting the Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, announced plans to expand its technology centre in Tralee, Co Kerry, creating 100 new jobs over five years.

• Indeed – Indeed announced the creation of 600 additional roles at its Dublin-based headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), stemming from its expansion into its new Capital Dock HQ.

• Allstate Sales Group Inc. – Allstate Sales Group Inc. announced the establishment of two software development & CAD Support centres in Waterford & Sligo, creating 100 jobs in each location in the company’s first investment outside the US.

 
2018

• Abbott – Abbott in Donegal announced the expansion of its existing manufacturing facility in Donegal town, resulting in the creation of c.500 new jobs over the next number of years.

• Edwards Lifesciences – Edwards Lifesciences announced plans to establish a manufacturing facility in Limerick, creating 600 jobs when fully operational.  The €160M investment is the company’s largest manufacturing investment in the EU.  The facility is under construction at the National Technology Park in Limerick.

•  MSD – MSD announced plans to construct a second manufacturing facility at its existing site in Carlow, creating 170 new jobs. The announcement followed the company’s announcement in May 2017 that it would create 330 new jobs and invest €280 million in its manufacturing facilities in Carlow and Cork, and in February of 2018 that it would create 350 new jobs as part of a new biotech facility called MSD Biotech in Dublin.

• VoxPro – VoxPro announced the expansion of its existing facility in Cork into adjacent new offices, resulting in the creation of c.400 new jobs over the next number of years, growing the company’s total number of jobs in Ireland to 3,000.

• WuXi Biologics –WuXi Biologics announced plans to invest €325m and create 400 new jobs over five years in a new biologics drug substance manufacturing facility in Dundalk, Co. Louth which is under construction at present.  WuXi Vaccines then announced plans in November 2019 to build a €215.5m vaccine production facility on the WuXi Biologics Campus creating a further 200 new jobs over five years.

• Genesys – Genesys announced the creation of 200 new technology jobs in Ireland over the following three years at the company’s new Galway office.

 
2017

• Indeed – Indeed announced expansion plans for its Dublin-based headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), adding 500 new employees over the next two years.

• Graebel Companies Inc. announced the creation of 125 new jobs in a EMEA Financial Shared Services and Operations Centre in Dundalk, Co Louth.

• Microsoft – Microsoft announced plans to hire 600 people, significantly increasing its commitment to Ireland. Following the selection of Dublin as the location for one of four global Inside Sales Centres, 500 new roles were created with immediate effect, with a further 100 created across its existing operations.

• Regeneron – Regeneron announced a further expansion of its Limerick Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) bioprocessing campus with an additional 300 jobs and investment of €89.8m bringing the total expected employment at the site to 800 people and total investment to €673.5m.

• YapStone – YapStone announced it would invest €41 million in an expansion of its operations at its International Headquarters in Drogheda, Co. Louth, creating 200 new jobs.

• Wasdell Group – Wasdell Group announced the establishment of a pharmaceutical packaging, testing and distribution facility in Dundalk, creating 300 jobs over five years.

2016

• HubSpot – HubSpot announced the opening of their new Dublin office, committing to hiring an additional 320 Dublin-based employees over three years. In order to accommodate that growth, the company officially opened its new office space at One Dockland Central.

• OPKO Health Inc. – OPKO Health Expansion announced plans to create 200 highly skilled jobs over five years in an expansion of the EirGen Pharma facility in Westside Business Park in Waterford, establishing a new Product Development Centre in IDA’s Advance Technology Building in the Waterford Business and Technology Park.

• Amazon – Amazon announced the creation of 500 new jobs in Ireland. The highly-skilled roles included data centre technicians, software engineers and customer support staff among others, to be hired over two years at a number of Dublin facilities.

• First Data - First Data announced the establishment of a research and development centre in Nenagh, Co Tipperary that will house up to 300 highly skilled employees to centralize work on a number of the company’s leading technology platforms.

• Wayfair – one of the world's largest online destinations for home furnishings and décor announced the expansion of its multi-lingual European Operations Centre in Galway creating approximately 160 new jobs

• Oracle – Oracle announced 450 new roles and the opening of a new state-of-the-art offices in Dublin to accommodate its growth.

 
2015

• Pramerica Systems Ireland – Pramerica Systems Ireland announced the expansion of its operations in Letterkenny, creating 330 new jobs over three years with potential for further growth in the longer term. The company announced plans to build a new, state-of-the-art, eco-friendly office campus near its current location in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal to accommodate the expansion.

• Northern Trust – Northern Trust announced that the company is to expand its operations in Limerick by creating 300 new jobs over three years - the second investment in jobs announced by the company in three years.

• Apple – Apple announced the expansion of its campus in Hollyhill, Co. Cork, adding a new building that will provide new office space and room for 1,000 additional employees by mid-2017.

• Bausch + Lomb – Bausch + Lomb announced plans to invest €75M in extra manufacturing capacity at its Waterford facility generating an expected 125 additional jobs

• Workday - Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY), a leader in enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources announced the opening of its new European headquarters office in Dublin 7, in the heart of the north inner city, as well as plans to create another 200 highly-skilled jobs

• Agora Publishing – Agora announced the establishment of a multilingual contact centre in Portlaw in Waterford, adding 100 jobs.

*This is the final version of the IDA Annual Results press release including a corrected figure on overall regional investment numbers during the five year Winning Strategy of 54,868