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Ireland secured commitments from foreign multinational companies during the first half of the year to create 10,000 jobs, up from 8,900 in the same period last year despite the challenging trade environment, the country’s inward investment agency said.
Ireland is hugely reliant on the taxes and jobs of foreign multinationals. They have almost doubled their workforce in the last decade to make up around 11% of the entire labour market, but jobs growth has stalled over the past two years.
The decades-old model of attracting jobs from mainly U.S. firms in sectors such as technology and pharmaceuticals has been further threatened by President Donald Trump’s sweeping economic policies and pledge to bring more production back to the U.S.
IDA Ireland’s half-year results do not take job losses into account that broadly cancelled out new jobs in 2023 and 2024. New jobs are unlikely to be as strong in the second half, but that seasonality is not unusual, IDA CEO Michael Lohan said on Wednesday.
“Ireland has promoted its political, policy and institutional stability as important aspects of our offering to FDI. Today’s results are evidence that in a turbulent world, this stability now stands out as a very attractive feature,” IDA Chairman, Feargal O’Rourke, added.
The new job commitments arose from 179 new investments, also up from 131 in the first half of 2024. Research, development and innovation projects accounted for a quarter of those and were driven by the pharmaceutical and technology sectors.
The total share from North American companies stood at 65%, in line with historical trends, while the new investments included 52 companies investing in Ireland for the first time.
Lohan added that foreign multinationals are starting to make major capital investment decisions again now they are beginning to see a path to what the future might look like following the huge uncertainty unleashed by U.S. tariff announcements in April.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by William James, Sachin Ravikumar and Andrew Heavens)
