Enterprise Ireland Launches Strategy to 2020
Enterprise Ireland, the Government agency responsible for developing Irish business globally, launched it’s 2017-2020 strategy on Monday, aiming to increase exports by €5 Billion and to create 60,000 new jobs.
The agency reported that over the period of its 2014-2016 Strategy “Driving Enterprise, Delivering Jobs”, 45,592 new full time jobs were created by client companies. This brings the total number of people employed by Enterprise Ireland supported companies to 201,108, an all-time high for the Agency.
A total of 19,244 new jobs (full and part-time) in Enterprise Ireland-supported businesses were created in 2016. Almost two thirds of these new jobs were outside Dublin, and all regions recorded increases in employment. Digital Technology, Construction and Fintech were the key performing sectors. This translates into a net increase of 9,117 jobs for 2016.
Enterprise Ireland today also published its 2017-2020 Strategy – Build Scale, Expand Reach. The strategy builds on the success of recent years and sets new, ambitious targets for jobs and export growth.
Enterprise Ireland Chief Executive Julie Sinnamon said: “Our focus over the last three years to deliver jobs and drive enterprise has paid dividends, with 45,000 new jobs recorded, breaking the 200,000 milestone of people employed in Enterprise Ireland supported companies for the first time ever. We aim to build on this success and ensure that Irish enterprise is well positioned to continue to succeed globally particularly in the context of Brexit.
“Enterprise Ireland has set ambitious targets in its new 2017 – 2020 strategy which aims to support more Irish companies with global ambition to achieve greater scale and expand their global footprint. This new strategy aims to increase client company exports to €26 billion per annum by the end of 2020 with an ambitious target to grow the level of exports to over two thirds outside the UK over the period.”
The 2017-2020 strategy aims to increase spend in the Irish economy by €4 Billion to €26 Billion per annum, and to drive innovation in Irish enterprise to unprecedented levels through new supports to reach the target of €1.25bn in R&D expenditure per annum by 2020.
The new targets have a major focus on the Eurozone, targetting a 50 percent increase in exports, and increasing the reach of client company exports so that two third of exports will go beyond the United Kingdom.
Commenting, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD said: “Despite global economic challenges in 2016, job creation by Irish companies remained strong. Irish industry driving economic growth is at the very heart of our Action Plan for Jobs. As these results show, Irish companies have an unparalleled capacity to create jobs in towns and cities right around the country with almost two thirds of the new jobs created outside Dublin.The fact that over 130,000 of those 201,000 jobs are outside of Dublin is significant.Every region has benefited from these results.
