WHEN Martin Shanahan visited the Mid West three years ago, the region was in a state of slow recovery from a seven-year economic battering.
Three weeks ago, the chief executive of the IDA returned to find a region that has emerged from a very difficult period at a faster rate than the rest of the country.
“In 2008, 2009 and 2010, we would have scarcely believed that we could have reached this point. Foreign direct investment and those who choose to have sites here have contributed to that recovery and you should be very proud of what you have achieved,” he told a gathering of local business leaders at the recent Shannon Chamber president’s lunch at Dromoland Castle.
“Our job is to attract foreign direct investment into Ireland and some of the most sophisticated companies in the world are based here today.
“We partner with some 1,300 FDI companies nationally, in attracting new investments into Ireland and the region as well as servicing existing mandates that are here.
“Driving investments to regional locations is at the very core of IDA’s strategic mission. We have announced 23 investments for the Mid West Region since January 2015 and those investments have an associated 4,043 jobs with 128 IDA companies being supported in the region.
“Attracting new names is hugely important as there will always be a fluctuation in the company base. What we have found to be hugely important is the existing base of companies in this region. By ensuring that we remain connected with those companies, we can ensure that they progress and expand and move with the mandate of their parent company. This is extraordinarily important.
“When we look at economic impact, we look at jobs in respect of the net figure so we are always looking to be adding to that. Our mandate is to target a very defined number of sectors including technology in all its forms, bio pharma, international financial services and engineering.
“Our progress over the last number of years has been very positive from an FDI perspective and has been positive overall economically.
“When I visited here three years ago, the economic situation wasn’t as positive as it is at the moment but now the region has emerged from a very difficult period and probably accelerated in that respect.
“More than 2.25million people are now employed in Ireland, giving us one of the lowest rates of unemployment at 5.1 per cent.
“Ten per cent of all employment is attributed to multinational companies with just under 20 per cent indirectly attributed to multinationals.
“It is the downstream impacts in every town and village in Ireland that is supported by those investments.
“However we need to also reflect that FDI is not a tap that can be turned on and off.
“FDI investors contribute around €17billion directly to the economy each year with over 80 per cent of the tax take coming from multinationals.
“There is a sense that multinationals can be transitory but that is not necessarily the case as a number of multinationals doubled-down on their operations here, with many companies here for as long as 50 years.
“The focus of our strategy that was developed in late 2014 is on regional development with an overall target of 80,000 new jobs over its five-year timescale.
“At the core of this strategy is that we increase investment in our regions outside of Dublin by 30 to 40 per cent and although ambitious, it was the first time that the IDA set out targets for the regions.
The IDA boss said that the target of 210,000 FDI jobs for the five-year plan has already been met and surpassed and they would now move to develop a new strategy.
In 2017, there were 237 discrete investments, 107 of those were first time investors and had no presence in Ireland with 99 of them in regional locations.
Mr Shanahan said that the IDA recognises the attributes of the Mid West region, ranging from infrastructure to its third level institutions and the existing base of companies.
“We can bring an interested investor to an existing site and show them the potential of what the region has to offer.
“There is no room for complacency though. We are operating in an extremely competitive environment and every investment is hard-won.
“I spend two weeks out of every four traveling and what I have noticed now is that big countries are trying to copy with we are doing in Ireland. The US and France come to mind. However, what works in favour of the Mid West is the strong collaboration between stakeholders and the level of engagement that exists.”
He also referred to the strong network of indigenous companies that is playing a significant role in the region.
Citing Modular Automation as being an “exemplar in every respect”, Mr Shanahan said the company’s activities were “everything that we talk about in terms of the next wave of technology and development”.
He added however, that the investment was a two-way street and there are now over 100,000 people employed in the US by Irish companies.
“We will continue to showcase what this region has to offer and continue with site visits to support this.
“Threats to our FDI investment strategy remain associated with the uncertainty of the Brexit negotiations and the protectionist nationalism of other countries.
“We see increasing issues around trade and tariffs between the US and China. Anything that impedes trade or impedes investment is not good for Ireland as we are one of the most globalised economies in the world.
“We have to pay attention to how the US economy is going but companies will continue to internationalise as they need access to markets and Europe is one of the most international markets in the world and Ireland will remain attractive as one of the countries within that market.
“In saying that, we will do everything in our power to deliver on the aligned objectives of the region and the IDA and to make sure that the Mid West is well positioned to attract those investments,” the IDA boss concluded.
Read more business news here.
