3rd January 2014
By Bryan T. Smyth
news@TheCork.ie
Senator Deirdre Clune has today (Friday) welcomed the announcement by IDA Ireland that their client companies created over 13,000 jobs in 2013 – the highest job creation increase in over a decade.
Senator Clune said: “Today’s announcement is yet another endorsement on this Government’s Action Plan for Jobs . The Plan’s quarterly targets have ensured that the momentum of relentless reform has significantly improved our competitive advantage in attracting foreign investment.
“Even when job losses are taken into account, the figures represent a net increase of just over 7,000. Total employment at IDA client companies now stands at 161,112 people, which is the highest level in the history of the agency.
“As I have consistently highlighted the importance of encouraging students to choose ICT and Sciences courses – it was interesting to note that job gains this year were particularly strong in digital media, ICT, international financial services, life sciences and business sciences. Among the leading investments secured during the year were: Twitter, EMC, eBay, Salesforce, Novartis, Vistakon, Facebook, Zurich, Symantec, De Puy, Yahoo, Sanofi and Indeed.com. Meanwhile, first-time investments were secured from corporations across the portfolio including from Qualcomm, Airbnb, Tripadvisor, Regeneron, Huawei, FireEye, Grifols, Alexion and Acorn Direct Marketing.
“But the good news doesn’t end there – in a separate announcement today the Exchequer Returns Statement shows that for the third successive year, Ireland is on track to overachieve our deficit target. Our deficit for 2013 was €11.5 billion, €3.4 billion lower than 2012 .”
Senator Clune concluded: “Today’s positive announcements highlight the fact that this Government’s strategy on public finance and job creation is effective; and this positive trend looks set to continue with the 2014 Budget containing a number of pro-jobs measures expected to help create a further 48,000 new jobs this year.” Ends
