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Why Ireland for engineering investment

  • Ireland is the European location of choice for growing numbers of industrial engineering and technology companies in manufacturing, research and innovation

  • Principal industry sectors include automotive, aerospace, chemicals and advanced materials, automation and industrial technology

Source the skills you need to make your investment in Ireland a success

Connect with us

Source the skills you need to make your investment in Ireland a success

Connect with us
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Leading Industry Names

Ireland’s strong and vibrant engineering industry supports a broad range of companies across many industries. It includes names like Liebherr, Henkel, Element Six, Sulzer and Thermoking. The sector contributes more than €5.6 billion annually to Irish exports.

  • The top eight industrial automation companies
  • Four of the top 10 global engineering design firms
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A Proven Track Record

Ireland has been attracting engineering companies for more than 50 years. Recently, many have expanded their operations to serve EMEA markets. Ireland is also developing into a hub for cutting-edge fields such as IoT, Industry 5.0, Connected Autonomous Vehicles and more.

  • 250+ industrial technology and engineering companies in Ireland
  • 23,000+ people employed in the engineering sector
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Cutting-Edge Research

Ireland is an attractive location for researching new technologies, with 42% of engineering companies in Ireland already engaging in R&D activity. Ireland’s industry-led research centres specialise in areas like advanced materials, smart manufacturing and industrial automation.

  • Active R&D in emerging technologies
  • World-class research centres with strong industry focus
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Strong Talent Pipeline

Engineering companies locating or expanding in Ireland can avail of skilled talent including recent graduates and staff already working in the sector. Ireland’s EU membership provides unrestricted access to a labour pool of more than 240 million people.

  • 45,000 third-level students enrolled in STEM fields at any one time
  • Ireland ranks first in the world for productivity in industry (OECD)
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Ready for Disruption

As Industry 5.0 trends reshape engineering and manufacturing, IDA Ireland client companies are already working on R&D projects in augmented reality, industrial IoT, robotics and automation to enhance and optimise their manufacturing operations.

  • Government support for feasibility investigations to digitisation projects
  • 25% tax credit for all qualifying R&D activity

We selected Dublin because of its global business environment, talent, ability to support European languages, excellent long-term cost structure, and quality of life for employees. Dublin is a vibrant, multicultural and creative city. These qualities align well with our brand and culture and we think Dublin will be a great fit for us.

See similar companies in Ireland

Pilz
DuPont
Ingersoll
Valeo
ElementSix
Siemens
Airbus Helicopters
Honeywell
Henkel
Jaguar
Enernoc
Liebherr
Aptiv
United Technologies
GM
Schneider
Abbott
GE

Success Stories: Hear from leaders calling Ireland home

A proven path

See all Success Stories
Vanguard
State Street
Cadence
SAP
Diligent
Mediolanum
Ireland’s robust regulatory landscape a key factor

Ireland’s robust regulatory landscape a key factor

We are a steward of the assets of 50 million clients around the world. What’s important to them is that we are a trusted organisation, and the products and services that we offer are trusted. The UCITS framework, as overseen by the Central Bank of Ireland, has the interests of investors at heart. What Ireland offers is a robust and retail-oriented regulatory framework aligned to what we want to offer to our clients.

Irish site chosen as one of only two global cybersecurity centres

Irish site chosen as one of only two global cybersecurity centres

We are a strong ecosystem with multiple parties, service providers like ourselves, management companies, commercial law firms, audit firms: it’s the synergy of all the different stakeholders working together… It’s the right balance between everyone having their own commercial imperatives but collaborating across an ecosystem that collectively facilitates growth and expansion.

Cork facility designated as European R&D Centre of Excellence

Cork facility designated as European R&D Centre of Excellence

The timing and scale of this Cadence investment is a real boost to Cork’s growing reputation as a specialised R&D hub. Due to our proximity to the University College Cork and Munster Technological University as well as to Ireland’s largest ICT research centre, The Tyndall Institute, the region provides an amazing engineering and computer science talent pool to draw from.

Strong growth over decades at software giant’s Irish operations

Strong growth over decades at software giant’s Irish operations

On the occasion of SAP celebrating 25 years in Ireland I would like to thank the Ireland Leadership team and all SAP Ireland employees in Dublin and Galway for their expertise, flexibility, motivation and exceptional customer focus. Over the past 25 years we have helped guide customers and partners on their transformation journeys and as SAP celebrates its 50th anniversary globally we look forward to helping even more customers run better and improving people’s lives.

Educated workforce enables rapid ramp-up for software company

Educated workforce enables rapid ramp-up for software company

In other jurisdictions that we looked at, they literally wanted you to land and sign the deal. Whereas the IDA were very powerful in thinking about the next wave of growth beyond the first 200 people, and what type of skills we might look for then. It genuinely does feel like a partnership rather than a one-and-done, and the after-sales experience is excellent too.

The European asset management HQ for the group set up in Dublin in 1997

The European asset management HQ for the group set up in Dublin in 1997

What makes the Irish ecosystem unique from other financial services centres in Europe is the breadth of different types of companies and businesses in the financial services industry, paired with the presence of a massive technology cohort. The location has helped a lot of cross-pollination and access to talent with the mindset of the tech companies. Today, financial services companies must become tech companies; you need these cultures blending together if you want to stay relevant.

Find your European home

Find your European home