From left: Leo Clancy, Mark Barrett, Simon Coveney and Brian Glennon. Image: Leigh Mc Gowran/SiliconRepublic.com
Minister Simon Coveney, TD and Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy announced the end-of-year results at the APC and VLE campus in Dublin today.
Employment created by client companies of Enterprise Ireland has reached 225,495, the highest ever reported by the state agency responsible for supporting Irish business.
A total of 15,530 new jobs were created in 2023, of which 68pc were based outside Dublin – the same percentage as in 2022. After accounting for the many job losses last year, Enterprise Ireland has reported a net positive jobs creation of more than 5,000.
The end-of-year results were announced today (9 January) by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, TD, at APC and VLE’s campus in Cherrywood, Dublin, where the life sciences company announced 300 jobs and a major €100m expansion today.
Coveney said this is the third year in a row that Enterprise Ireland has supported companies recording jobs growth despite 2023 being a “particularly challenging” year for exporting Irish businesses with rising input costs, high interest rates and international instability.
“Government is determined to help business face these challenges and continue to create high-quality employment across every region in Ireland,” he said.
“In addition to direct financial support, we are working with our economic development agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, to ensure an increased focus on innovation, digitalisation and sustainability so that Irish companies can continue to compete and win in global markets.”
According to Enterprise Ireland, eight out of nine regions in Ireland recorded net jobs growth. The west, north-east and north-west regions performed particularly strongly with growth rates between 4 and 5pc, while the midlands region saw a small decrease of 1pc.
Food and sustainability now employs more than 66,000 people, recording a growth of 3pc, while industrial and life sciences now employs nearly 94,000 people, growing by 2pc last year. Technology and services employs nearly 66,000 people at a 2pc growth rate.
The agency also reported a 7pc employment growth rate for climate, sustainability and agritech, 5pc for dairy, drinks and food, 4pc for life sciences, 3pc for housing and construction, 2pc for digital technology and fintech and 5pc for international education and edtech.
“Looking to the year ahead, we have a major focus on supporting the ambition of Irish entrepreneurs to help them scale globally,” said Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland.
“Business sentiment among our client companies remains very high and they are continuing to innovate to ensure they are competitive in global markets that remain turbulent.”
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