Minister to meet 19 US firms to talk job creation in Ireland


30 Oct 2011

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD, is today travelling to the eastern United States for a five-day FDI mission during which he will meet with senior executives of 19 US companies to discuss proposals for investment and job creation in Ireland.

The IDA has organised the trade mission to New York, New Jersey and Boston, Massachusetts.

Bruton will also hold interviews with major US media outlets – The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones, The New York Times and Fox Business Network – to tell the international community that Ireland is open for business.

The 19 companies Bruton is meeting include:

  • Seven companies in the life sciences sector, five IT companies, and five financial services companies.
  • A combination of household-name, world-leading companies, mid-tier and high-growth emerging companies
  • Companies with combined annual revenues of almost US$500bn, and employing more than 1.2m people worldwide
  • More than half the companies already have operations in Ireland, employing 20,000 people, while the remainder are targets of the Government

Speaking before his departure, Bruton said: “This Government’s plan for job creation recognises that there is no one solution for the crisis we face. While radical reform is necessary in many areas, one key strategy on our road to recovery will be to build on the strengths which have served us so well for so long.

“There are approximately 500 US companies in Ireland, which directly employ over 100,000 people and account for over 70pc of total employment by foreign companies here.

“Technology, financial services and life sciences are sectors where US investment in Ireland has traditionally been strong: eight of the top 10 US ICT corporations, nine of the top 10 global pharmaceutical corporations, and 17 of the top 25 global medical devices corporations have operations in Ireland.

“My aim now is to broaden and deepen that, by increasing the number of US companies in Ireland and the number of people they employ, and also by ensuring that they locate more pioneering, high-value activities in Ireland rather than elsewhere in their global operations.

“That is why I am travelling to the key centres of Boston and New York to meet senior executives of 19 companies selected by the IDA as targets for potential investment and job creation in Ireland. My hope is that I will be able to announce concrete plans for further jobs and investment in Ireland from these companies in the near future,” Bruton added.