Nearly 80% of foreign direct investment decision-makers are planning to establish or expand operations in Ireland over the next year.
That is according to the latest EY Attractiveness Survey, and marks a significant improvement on the result from 2023.
In last year’s survey just 53% of FDI decision-makers said they were planning an investment in Ireland in the year ahead.
According to Feargal de Freine, assurance partner and head of FDI at EY Ireland, that is in large part due to an improvement in the global picture.
“2023 was probably a sub-par year for overseas investment – not just in Ireland but across Europe,” he said. “There was a post-pandemic correction in a couple of sectors – like technology and software – that did have an impact.
“If you look back to 2022 when a lot of those decisions would have been taken, the global economy and geopolitical situation were pretty uncertain.”
The survey found that decision-makers in the financial services industry had a particularly strong intention to invest here in the next year, while the country was also attractive to pharmaceutical and chemicals firms.
Dublin was seen as an attractive location for 47% of respondents, while 41% were considering investment in the south-east.
Meanwhile 38% of respondents were looking at the mid-east as an investment location.
However improving the country’s geographical balance was seen as one area policy-makers should prioritise, along with transport infrastructure and skills.
“Certainly infrastructure continues to be front-of-mind for investors – whether it’s transport, energy, connectivity, housing and water,” said Mr de Freine. “The top factor reported by investors, though, about where local policy-makers should focus interestingly was on skills.
“I think with the advent of AI, the importance of life-long learning and being able to be flexible, and to adapt to new technologies is going to be increasingly important for us.”