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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

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

Success Stories: Hear from leaders calling Ireland home

A proven path

See all Success Stories
Supermetrics
MeiraGTx
Qualtrics
Boulder Media
eSentire
Logitech
Ireland’s attractiveness helped by how it brings people from across Europe to work

Ireland’s attractiveness helped by how it brings people from across Europe to work

Dublin is ideal for the rich pool of talent, with significant technology literacy: people who have extensive experience either selling similar solutions, or – equally importantly – selling to similar types of customers. That really accelerates our ability to identify and hire the talent, bring them into the business and get them to a point of productivity very, very quickly. You don’t get that in other places.

Gene therapy startup chooses Ireland for commercial-scale manufacturing

Gene therapy startup chooses Ireland for commercial-scale manufacturing

MeiraGTx’s Shannon facility is unique, not only in Ireland but globally, as it streamlines gene therapy development, testing and manufacturing capabilities together in-house. This significantly reduces the time to patients for advanced therapeutic products, with months or potentially years saved.” -

Qualtrics Chooses Ireland for its Skills Base

Qualtrics Chooses Ireland for its Skills Base

Ultimately, what you want is a geography where you can build an office that has broad market coverage. For a company going into Europe, Ireland has the lowest cost to set up a business, with a broad pool of talent from across the EU

Boulder Media is one of the largest animation studios Ireland

Boulder Media is one of the largest animation studios Ireland

Remaining successful in the thriving global animation industry is largely down to attracting and retaining high quality talent, making the studio the best place to produce a project. Partnering this talent with high quality projects allows Boulder Media to create the best content, entertaining audiences all over the world on a daily basis.

 eSentire's Cork site has become a service delivery centre of excellence and now employs 52 people

eSentire's Cork site has become a service delivery centre of excellence and now employs 52 people

There’s a global shortage of cybersecurity professionals, it’s well documented that it’s very hard to hire and retain cybersecurity professionals. We’ve been able to hire very high-quality talent, who are doing a great job. There’s a very strong work ethic and culture here, eSentire has several very, very strong partnerships, and I emphasise the word ‘partnership’. A good example is Munster Technological University: they have what I would describe as the leading programme in cybersecurity in Ireland, hands down.

Logitech’s Irish presence dates back more than three decades to 1988

Logitech’s Irish presence dates back more than three decades to 1988

We’re pleased to see Logitech’s Cork operations grow to encompass more opportunities ahead of the new year. This is a reflection not only of Logitech’s long-term performance, but also the wonderful culture and spirit our employees have developed, here and across the world. At Logitech, talent working out of Ireland is shaping the future, and enjoying it! We’re very grateful to IDA Ireland for their consistent support over the years.

Find your European home

Find your European home