Irish research sector booming: report

25-05-2006

by Charlie Taylor

More than EUR275 million was invested in 50 R&D projects by IDA client companies in 2005, a rise of 85 percent on the previous year.

IDA Ireland's annual report, launched on Thursday, indicates that technology firms were among the leading investors in Ireland last year with old hands such as Microsoft and Dell continuing to plough money into the country.

The government agency, which is charged with luring foreign firms to set up significant operations in Ireland, said that foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to be pivotal to the nation's success.

Among the many significant R&D investments highlighted in the report was Microsoft's establishment of a new research and development centre. Dell was also cited in the report for its new engineering centre of competency in Limerick, as was Xilinx which officially opened its EUR7.5 million research centre in Dublin last October.

The largest approval by the IDA Board in 2005 was for the funding of NIBRT -- the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training -- which will be located on the new Industry Park in Belfield, Dublin. The investment is worth over EUR70 million.

A total of 71 new business projects were negotiated with new and existing clients last year involving a total investment of more than EUR760 million. Over half of these projects were located outside of Dublin.

Also in 2005, IDA spent over EUR69 million on its business parks, advance facilities and related infrastructure to achieve balanced regional economic development.

Across all regions 12,623 new jobs were created with over 50 percent of these requiring third-level or higher qualifications in a wide range of disciplines.

The number of new positions created during the year was offset by 9,211 jobs losses giving a net gain of 3,412 -- the highest gain since the year 2000. Overall employment in IDA supported companies now totals 132,728.

"The achievements of 2005 are being continued in 2006 and we see good prospects for further investments over coming months," said Sean Dorgan, CEO of IDA Ireland.

"Already this year we have had major announcements by Amgen, Amazon and Citco in Cork; Georgia Tech Research Institute in Athlone; Abbott in Donegal; USCI for Ballinasloe; Vesta for Dundalk; Becton Dickinson and Pillar Data for Drogheda and Vistakon in Limerick. We believe that there will again be a reasonable spread of investments throughout the regions, as we work intensively with local authorities and other bodies to advance regional development," he added.