Bruton Heads To US For Job Creation

Nineteen American companies will discuss proposals for 'much needed' job creation in Ireland, while the state puts out the message that it is "open for business".

The Minister for Jobs and Enterprise, Richard Bruton, will travel to the US for a five-day investment mission, making stops in New York, New Jersey and Boston.

A series of one-on-one meetings with senior executives of 19 US companies will discuss proposals for investment and job-creation in Ireland.

Organised by the IDA the trade mission will also hold three interviews with major US media outlets, the Wall Street Journal,the New York Times and Fox Business Network, in a bid to promote that Ireland is open for business.

The 19 companies who the Minister is meeting include seven companies in the life sciences sector, five IT companies, and five financial services companies as well as a combination of household-name,world-leading companies, mid-tier and high-growth emerging companies.

Over half the companies already have operations in Ireland, employing a total of 20,000 people, while the remainder are targets of the government.

The Minster said there is "no one solution" to the problem and said:"Radical reform is necessary in many areas, one key strategy on our road to recovery will be to build on the strengths which have served us so well for so long."

"There are approximately 500 US companies in Ireland, which directly employ over 100,000 people and account for over 70% of total employment by foreign companies here. Technology, financial services and life sciences are sectors where US investment in Ireland has traditionally been strong: 8 of the top 10 US ICT corporations, 9 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical corporations, and 17 of the top 25 global medical devices corporations have operations in Ireland,"said Minister Bruton.

He continued: "My aim now is to broaden and deepen that, by increasing the number of US companies in Ireland and the number of people they employ, and also by ensuring that they locate more pioneering, high-value activities in Ireland rather than elsewhere in their global operations."

"Travelling to the key centres of Boston and New York to meet senior executives my hope is that I will be able to announce concrete plans for further jobs and investment in Ireland from these companies in the near future".

This news comes after four foreign IT companies announced that they would create 165 jobs in Ireland.

It is understood, after a series of announcements, that up to 165 jobs will be created in Dublin and Galway by four separate companies.

Pivot Acquisition Corporation has announced its to build a shared services centre in Galway, creating 100 jobs by the end of next year.

The Canadian IT solutions provider said it is planning to build a high-skilled team at a centre of excellence to support their rapid international growth and expansion.

Twenty Five jobs are being created to the end of this year and up to another 75 next year.

Positions available include information technology, software development, finance, international customer support, process innovation, project management, and marketing operations.

The remaining 65 jobs are to be created across Dublin by another three firms: Engine Yard, Pinger and Commence Corporation.

Engine Yard is a US-based technology company which will create 30 high quality jobs in the next three years, with the potential for more in the future.

Pinger, which markets free texting and phonecall apps for smartphones, has announced it is creating 15 jobs over the next two years at a Dublin operation, which will manage the business across all territories except North America.

Finally Commence Corporation, which provides software for Customer Relationship Management, is also opening an office in Dublin - it will hire 20 people over the next two years.

(LB)