Enterprise Ireland Achieves Record Level Of Exports

Enterprise Ireland's Annual Report and Accounts for 2011 published today, Wednesday 27th June 2012, show that Enterprise Ireland client companies achieved record levels of exports of €15.2bn in 2011.

This exceeds the pre-recession record levels of 2008 and is the highest ever annual export gain achieved by Enterprise Ireland client companies.

The report also shows employment levels in Enterprise Ireland client companies stabilised in 2011 with full-time employment in client companies at 141,228 - a similar number to 2010.

Announcing the results, Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland said: "The outstanding achievements of these Irish exporters are of huge value and significance to Ireland and are to be strongly commended. The performance of Ireland's exporting sector in overseas markets in 2011 was remarkable in any context, but particularly against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown.

"The impact of this on the Irish economy is enormous. These companies are responsible for the direct and indirect employment of more than 300,000 people in every town and village in Ireland. Indigenous exporters also spent €18.3bn on goods and services in the Irish economy in 2011".

Welcoming the report, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said: "As I have said before, indigenous companies will be central to achieving growth and jobs in Ireland. Indigenous companies provide proportionately three times more benefit to the Irish economy than multinationals, and that is why the Government's plan is focused on creating a powerful engine of indigenous business to create the jobs we need.

"Today's announcement that companies supported by Enterprise Ireland achieved record levels of exports in 2011 is great news, particularly in such a challenging external environment. The news that employment in these businesses has stabilised after a number of difficult years is also welcome. The challenge now is to build on these achievements by targeting further export growth in 2012, particularly in high-growth markets, so that we can achieve substantial jobs growth in the coming years. I am determined that, through rigorous implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs, we will achieve this and ensure that indigenous exporting companies drive a powerful recovery in the Irish economy."

(CD/GK)