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IDA IRELAND HAS announced the greatest level of employment in its client companies in the agency’s 67-year history.
The government body responsible for attracting foreign direct investment says 187,056 people are now employed by overseas companies - ”the highest level on record”.
The total payroll is estimated to be about €9 billion.
IDA client companies created 18,983 jobs on the ground during 2015, up from 15,012 in 2014.
Net jobs were 11,833, compared to 7,131 in the same time period last year, representing a year-on-year rise of 66%.
Facebook’s plans for a new data centre in Clonee, county Meath and Apple’s €850 million investment in Athenry, Galway were among the leading investments secured during the year.
Last year, 53% of all jobs created by IDA clients were based outside of Dublin, compared to 49% in 2014.
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton hailed the work and the results, claiming the Action Play for Jobs put together by his government was replacing an economy model “based on property and debt which collapsed”.
It has been truly an export-led recovery, and multinational companies have played a massive role in this.
In the annual report, IDA Ireland claim that its clients “are major contributors to Ireland’s corporation tax receipts, representing approximately 65% of all receipts in 2014″. The Department of Finance has put this year’s bumper corporation tax figure at €6.87 billion.
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Some stunning numbers right there, well done to Martin Shanahan and everyone at the IDA. What other countries would give to have those results. Great platform for 2016, FDI still coming.
Hold on a minute. It was Richard Bruton and the government not the IDA and there 60 + years of experience. ☺
They’re going to try and take credit anyway.
Other countries wouldn’t be offering the double Irish, or spending a budget of 1 billion a year in creating 18.5k jobs linked mostly to a virtual trade. Again this could all change very quickly. As for the tax issue, all of us are subsidizing substantial tax evasion from companies making plenty. Some of this tax would be welcome in paying for hospitals, flood defenses and education supports like the rest of Irish businesses.
Around four-fifths of corporation tax is paid by foreign-owned MNCs. This year the total corporation tax paid by MNCs will be around €5 billion – 20% more than is collected through the USC.
On top of this US companies in Ireland pay €6 billion in staff costs, buy €4 billion of goods and services from Irish suppliers and spend about €3 billion on their capital infrastructure. Every year.
Martin, Any evidence of tax evasion should be reported to Revenue.
Martin the ‘double Irish’ loophole was closed by the Minister for Finance two years ago.
@Stephen
Technical the double Irish is been replaced, also Ireland still allows MNC companies to write off dividend payments & other inter group transfers against Irish Tax. It’s not for nothing Ireland is often referred to as a tax haven, despite Irish government asserting that their country is not one.
Recently, Ireland made headlines in USA with the latest in a series of “inversion’s” when drug company Pfizer merged with Ireland-based Allergan, with plans to reheadquarter in Ireland ???? Why ????… weather, location, skills LOL… This tax inversion could help Pfizer dodge taxes on as much as $148 billion in profits held internationally, according to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness.
Another giant American-founded company that is incorporated in Ireland is Apple, which has booked over $180 billion in offshore profits through its international subsidiaries, dodging $59.2 billion in U.S. taxes, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice report. They aren’t alone; over a quarter of Fortune 500 companies had subsidiaries in Ireland in 2014, including Google
This can’t last forever more & more countries are not happy with Ireland stealing their dinner. The Irish government should be looking to develop it own homegrown Irish MNC’s we need more Kerry, CRH, Ryanair etc rather than low skill tax compliance based employment. This party is ending soon.
@ TheJeff – Inversions are an issue – but if it wasn’t Ireland – it would be somewhere else (Burger King recently moved to a Canadian domicile). The issue with inversions is more related to the US tax regulation that US companies should pay tax on their global earnings in the US (as opposed to where generated). This tax rate is one of the highest in the western world – about 39%.
Inversions, however, bring no jobs, and aren’t something the IDA have any role in. (so Ireland shouldn’t encourage them).
I’m not sure where you get the “low skill” statement from – if a company wants low skill employees – they go to Vietnam or Bangladesh. Most jobs with Apple/Facebook/Paypal etc are for graduates – and most are well paid.
Just more pre-election facts and figures.
Most jobs with Apple/Facebook/Paypal etc in Ireland are low skill admin jobs & system maintenance employing Grad in jobs where they are not learning much anything new, certainly not picking up new skills ideas. Sheep mostly.. & that before you look at the employment contracts they have mostly 18 month temporary contracts
Yet the nay sayers and idiots will still complain about these “multinationals not paying their taxes” and looking to get them out
But Steve, do you think companies shouldn’t pay tax on profits? Yes jobs are great, but your local small employer running a supermarket or similar will pay a higher percentage tax than Facebook just because they can’t split themselves and pay “fees” to their Bermuda branch to offset tax liabilities. Do you think that’s fair? Or is it cute hoor Ireland where we complain when we hear tax avoidance stories but look the other way when it suits us.
The owner of the supermarket doesn’t have to pay for the use of IP developed by a third party.
John,
you are wrong. small employers can move offshore.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-moves-offshore-to-avoid-tax-on-local-business-a6728971.html
The reason they pay a smaller percentage is in fact to attract them in the first place. Isn’t it better to have them here?? Why would Facebook /Google/Apple set up shop on a small island country if there was no benefit to them.
John, you are correct that they should be paying more tax. Better to have all the jobs, skills and spin off benefits that these companies bring in than to see them go elsewhere. Take what we can for the moment and grow our knowledge base. If global tax rates become less of an issue in the future then we can increase the tax. It’s frustrating for other businesses I’m sure but in overall we are still in an envious position.
According to Irish Times article, 1 in 5 private sector jobs employed directly or indirectly by foreign multinationals. Remember, that’s a huge tax take that the Irish Treasury get on their incomes.
@Steven. No point trying to get them out. They’ll get out themselves when a better fix presents itself.
Liked and shared. Amen.
Well done to all involved.
Wonder what the LLA’s policy on increasing employment tax will do to these numbers.
Great news, well done!
Brilliant news this fdi brings fwf to Ireland. Fwf being foreign work force, when these companies leave for eastern Europe or india the country is left with the additional numbers unemployed and due to the meagre taxes paid by these companies irish companies and workers will foot the bill. Like everything in this country it is done for short term gain or more correctly to get relected .
Not in the North East anyway…
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