The chairman of IDA Ireland has said people should not be unnerved by the spate of job cuts and closures across the multinational sector since the start of the year as this is not an exceptional trend.
In a statement accompanying the IDA's 2006 annual report, the authority's chairman John Dunne says the country has nothing to fear so long as government policy on employment and infrastructure is implemented.
Net employment in IDA-backed companies increased by almost 3,800 last year bringing the total number directly employed in the multinational sector to 135,000. Multinational companies paid €2.8 billion in tax.
Meanwhile, IDA chief executive Sean Dorgan told RTE radio he was confident the Amgen plant announced for east Cork, which has been delayed, would go ahead.
The IDA chief also said nuclear power was an option that should be considered. He said he did not know whether it was right for Ireland, but he wanted the issue discussed.
IDA Ireland's report says job losses from multinationals are at less than half what they were in 2001. The agency adds that suggestions that Ireland is no longer competitive for manufacturing are misplaced. IDA Ireland says the country is reinventing its attractiveness to foreign companies.
The annual report reveals that the IDA backed 125 new projects last year, of which 89 were outside the Greater Dublin area and 54 were focused on research and development. R&D investment committed last year came in at €470m, an 80% increase on 2006. All that translates into almost 12,000 jobs created, down slightly on 2005.
To continue that success IDA Ireland has a shopping list which includes better transport, cheaper energy and more science in schools and third-level.
