THE NUMBER of jobs created by foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland in 2007 fell 44 per cent to 4,052, despite the number of new FDI projects rising to 80 from 74 the previous year, according to a European survey.
This was the highest level of investment since 2000 when 113 projects were attracted to Ireland.
The tenth annual European Investment Monitor from accountancy firm Ernst Young shows that while the overall share of investment from the US and the UK into the Republic declined, the countries remained the two top FDI investors into Ireland. The investment from the US fell 9 per cent to 47 per cent and FDI from the UK also fell by 9 per cent to 12 per cent. The level of investment from Canada, Germany and Bermuda increased during the year.
Some 17 per cent of the FDI jobs created were in research and development, compared to an average of 6 per cent across Europe.
Some 34 projects, the majority of the new investment last year, were in Dublin, followed by 11 in Cork, seven in Clare and four in both Galway and Limerick.
Almost two-thirds of the projects were new investments in Ireland and the rest were expansions by firms that had already invested in Ireland. The highest level of investment was in software, accounting for almost one-quarter of the FDI. This was followed by the pharmaceutical industry, which rose two percentage points to 14 per cent.
Financial intermediation was down seven percentage points to 11 per cent and business services fell two percentage points to 10 per cent. The electronics sector ranked fifth, increasing to 9 per cent in 2007 from 6 per cent.
There was a record number of FDI projects across Europe for the fourth year in a row, with 3,712 projects recorded - an increase of 5 per cent. The UK attracted the highest level of FDI in Europe.
