MANY COMPANIES in Ireland are struggling to fill positions, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland (ACCI) has claimed.

Gerard Kilcommins, who is head of medical technology company Medtronic’s operations in Ireland, said that, contrary to the “barrage of negative stories” about Ireland over the last two years, many companies are encountering problems finding the correct skills to meet their immediate recruitment needs.

“There is a mismatch between what industry wants and what the education system is producing,” he said. Ireland’s success in attracting foreign direct investment depended on a commitment to continue funding second- and third-level education, he said.

Mr Kilcommins was speaking at the ACCI spring business lunch, which was attended by some 350 people in Dublin yesterday. Delegates also heard from the author of IBM’s yearly global locations trends report Dr Jacob Dencik, a consultant who advises companies on their location strategies.

While Dr Dencik said Ireland faces increasing competition for foreign direct investment, he said companies “still see Ireland as a good place to do business”.

Noting that Ireland has moved from being a country which competes for investment primarily on cost to one that competes on quality, he said the State’s skills pool is now its key differentiating factor.

Dr Dencik also pointed out that, while more than 60 per cent of the jobs created in Ireland from foreign direct investment come from the US, there is relatively little inward investment from emerging economies.

“While globally we have seen quite a significant growth in investment from emerging markets like China and India in particular, companies from those locations remain fairly absent in Ireland, especially with regard to greenfield and expansion investment.”