'Buoyant' 2005 so far for IDA Ireland

RTE News:

IDA Ireland says the outlook for foreign investment in Ireland is good, with chief executive Sean Dorgan describing business in 2005 as buoyant.

Speaking on the publication of its annual report, Mr Dorgan said the agency had had considerable success in locating projects in towns throughout the country.

He described 2004 as a watershed year, highlighting development investments from companies such as Lucent Bell Labs and IBM, and manufacturing decisions by Intel, Centocor and Guidant.

Chairman John Dunne said Ireland had moved away from low-cost, low-value assembly and service operations. He said we should no longer just count the number of jobs a project created, but also the levels of investment, the quality of the jobs and the 'strategic relevance' of the activities.

The annual report shows that 10,825 new jobs were created in IDA-backed companies last year, but this only slightly offset the number of jobs lost. 37 new investments were attracted last year, with 33 expansion projects. Total investment in these was worth ?5 billion.

IDA upbeat on investment in 05

Jobs increase at IDA-backed companies

IDA Ireland lauds continued inward investment success