Enterprise Ireland Facilitates 20k Jobs In 2014

Enterprise Ireland has reported that its client companies created 19,705 new jobs in 2014, indicating an increase of 8,476 in the number of people employed by the government agency.

Enterprise said the companies it supports now account for more than 300,000 jobs in the Irish economy, or 16% of total workforce.

Julie Sinnamon, Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland said: "We are very proud of the record performance of our clients right across the country. The level of increased employment achieved is remarkable and endorses the strategy we have embarked on to 2016. We continue to relentlessly focus on ensuring the right supports are available for clients at every stage of growth. This focus, coupled with our priority to support entrepreneurship across the regions, and develop strong, export focussed, ambitious Irish companies that can win new business, will mean even more jobs for Ireland over the next 12 months."

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said: "At the heart of our Action Plan for Jobs is creating a powerful engine of Irish enterprise, alongside the strong multinational sector we have built in recent years. We have put in place a raft of measures to deliver on this, including doubling the number of trade missions, recruiting extra staff in overseas markets, and delivering new funding supports for Irish exporting companies.

"Today’s announcement that companies supported by Enterprise Ireland created a record 8,476 extra jobs in 2014 is a huge boost. This is the best performance in the history of the Agency, and great credit is owed to Julie and her staff for this excellent performance. Every job created in an Enterprise Ireland company supports an additional job elsewhere in the economy, through supply and service businesses, so the impact of this on communities across the country is massive.

"Through our plan to grow jobs in Irish companies, we can help drive economic growth and ultimately allow Government to put money in people’s pockets and improve services."

(IT/CD)