Over 23,300 new jobs were created in IDA-supported companies in the past year - a record according to the IDA's annual report published today.
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A total of 96 projects in manufacturing and international services were secured during the year. Of these projects 64 were new greenfield developments while the rest were expansions.
Speaking at the publication of today's report the IDA chairman Mr Seán Dorgan claimed revenue retained by multinationals in the Irish economy has risen by over 11.6 per cent and now stands at nearly £12 billion a year.
"This is the new wealth which generates much of the downstream employment in the Irish services economy," said Mr Dorgan.
Job creation in IDA-backed companies is now running at over three times the level of 10 years ago and over double the level in 1994 when the new IDA Ireland was established.
Among the highlights in 2000 were Intel's $2 billion investment at Leixlip in Co Kildare and Wyeth Medica's $1 billion investment at Grange Castle in Dublin, to develop one of the world's most advanced integrated bio-technology campus facilities.
The decision by Microsoft to base its Net strategy operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in Ireland and IBM's decision to locate its global procurement portal in Ireland were also seen as highly significant, the IDA said.
The information and communications technologies (ICT) sector continues to dominate the performance of the industrial base, with growth in employment of nearly 12 per cent during 2000.
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The report said: "While the sector is continuing to experience volatility . . . the key focus for IDA Ireland is to ensure that more high-value and high skills-based activity is added to the sector in Ireland."
Mr Dorgan said the critical challenges in the IT sector during 2001 would be to continue to address the issues of availability of suitably skilled workers, especially engineers and technicians, and to achieve more regional distribution of key projects despite the challenges in the provision of quality infrastructure, especially electricity and telecoms.
The report forecasts that Ireland's growth rate of growth is likely to moderate over the next year, reflecting the slowdown in the US but steady growth in Europe is expected.
The report maintains Ireland's advantages for inward investment remain strong. "So long as we continue to build on our strengths in the areas of technology and skills and address our infrastructural needs we can continue to prosper," it concludes.