Manufacturing & Supply Chain

IDA Ireland’s annual results show a commendable start to the agency’s new strategy, delivering growth and first-time investment alongside major transformative initiatives in the areas of sustainability, talent advancement (up-skilling), and research, development, and innovation (RD&I). These large-scale investments show clients are future focused driving innovation, competitiveness, and productivity in their Irish operations.

The employment and economic impact of IDA client companies on Ireland remains at record levels in a year of economic and technological change. Employment in IDA client companies increased by 1.5% year-on-year in 2025 to 312,400. Annual client expenditure on payroll, Irish materials and Irish services reached over €40 billion in 2024 with a further €12.8 billion spent on capital expenditure projects. IDA’s 2025-29 strategy places an emphasis on partnering with companies to retain and renew this significant economic contribution.

A total of 323 investments were secured by IDA Ireland during 2025, representing a 38% increase on the previous year and the highest number of projects on record secured by the agency. This record number of investments is expected to deliver over 15,300 new jobs in the coming years.

Ireland continues to remain attractive to new investors with 78 investments coming from companies new to Ireland. The diverse origin of these investments underscores our focus on market diversification with 38 from North America and 40 from Europe and APAC region. IDA Ireland’s focus on strengthening long term investment was demonstrated by 68 expansions from existing client companies.

The strength and attractiveness of Dublin remain paramount to Ireland’s proposition to compete for innovative and talent driven investments. In line with targets set out in IDA Ireland’s five-year strategy to maximise regional opportunities, there has been significant levels of regional investment, with 183 (57%) of the total number of investments across our regions.

As IDA Ireland looks to scale cutting edge innovation to enable client companies to position themselves for the future, 2025 has seen a record level of future RD&I investment commitments of €2.5 billion by IDA Ireland clients, exceeding €2 billion in one year for the first time as companies invest in product development, and new and emerging technologies such as AI and Quantum Computing.

New name companies to Ireland in 2025 include Datavant, one of the world’s leading health data platform companies who opened its global R&D centre in Galway, with plans to initially hire 125 people, and Sony Interactive Entertainment, who announced the establishment of its digital innovation and engineering centre in Dublin, creating 100 jobs.

A number of existing clients embarked on sizeable expansions including Ericsson, who announced a significant €200 million investment over the next three years in a pioneering research, development, and innovation (RD&I) project at its Athlone facility; GE Healthcare’s €132 million investment to expand its contrast media fill-and-finish manufacturing site in Cork; IBM, who further expanded its presence in Ireland, with the creation of 75 new software engineering roles in Waterford focused primarily on R&D; and PayPal, who opened a new AI R&D centre of excellence in Dublin, creating 100 jobs.  These types of investments underline and reinforce Ireland’s reputation as a strategic hub for cutting edge engineering, R&D, and innovation.

As companies prioritise up-skilling their workforce, IDA Ireland clients have committed to invest in the development and training of more than 33,000 employees during 2025. The total number of people trained this year is running at approximately three times the annual average of 2021-24 and is more than double the previous peak in 2020. The focus of this training includes scaling for growth, maintaining competitiveness, developing AI/digital centric workforces, and enhancing leadership capability.

2025 also saw IDA Ireland clients committing to invest record levels of capital, (€1 billion), in sustainability projects. This demonstrates forward thinking investment towards environmentally responsible business practices, while also recognising the competitive advantage that such investments create. These financial commitments will drive carbon abatement of existing operations and carbon avoidance at new sites in the years ahead.

The Government is matching the drive for competitiveness within the client base by creating the right enabling conditions. The National Development Plan provides a clear roadmap for delivering critical infrastructure nationwide, while the newly launched Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan sets out a blueprint for rapid delivery. In parallel, the Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity identifies key competitiveness improvements across the economy. These efforts complement significant work at European level to advance the competitiveness agenda, building on the momentum of the Draghi report.

Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism & Employment said: “The record results are a powerful endorsement of the strength and resilience of foreign direct investment in Ireland. The continued growth, innovation and competitiveness of our FDI sector are testament to the trusted relationships built by IDA Ireland and the exceptional talent of our workforce.
These achievements reflect not only our success in attracting first-time investors, but also the confidence of existing global leaders who continue to expand and innovate here. The €2.5 billion committed by client companies to research, development and innovation, alongside €1 billion in sustainability-focused investments demonstrates our collective determination to remain at the forefront of technological and environmental progress.

“As we look ahead, Ireland’s stable business ecosystem, supported by enabling government policies and a world-class talent pool, ensures we remain competitive in a challenging global landscape. Together, we are building a prosperous, innovative, and sustainable future for all citizens of Ireland.”

Michael Lohan, CEO of IDA Ireland, said: “This year’s results are a testament to the enduring strength and adaptability of our valued clients, Ireland’s proven investment value proposition along with the commitment and dedication of the IDA Ireland global team. Our 2025-2029 strategy, Adapt Intelligently, is focused on ensuring that we strengthen long term investment, deliver sustainable growth, scale cutting edge innovation, and deliver across all regions, and today’s results demonstrate that the implementation of our strategy has got off to an exceptional start. This has enabled us to deliver record levels of investment across priority areas – including attraction of first-time investment, scalable RD&I, and progressing digital transformation, talent development, and the green economy. “

“We remain resolute in our vision to position IDA Ireland as the world’s best investment promotion agency by nurturing a collaborative, inclusive and future-focused ecosystem that benefits clients, employees and communities nationwide.”

Feargal O’Rourke, Chairperson of IDA Ireland, said: “2025 has been an excellent year for attracting Foreign Direct Investment to Ireland, in what was a turbulent and uncertain economic year globally. When we launched our five-year IDA strategy back in January, our targets looked very ambitious given the backdrop we were facing. However, our results for the first year of the plan are exceptional. They have shown the attractiveness and resilience of the Irish economy and the Irish workforce. But more importantly, the strong investment by our clients in upskilling their people and investing in research development and innovation, sets Ireland up for continued future success. Delivery by the State on the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce recommendations is also key to this continuing success. I’d like to pay tribute to all the people in IDA who do an exceptional job in making the organisation a world class investment promotion agency.”