Irish construction firms could be in line for a €500 million boost as a result of the London Olympics, according to Enterprise Ireland.

The state development agency is actively working to help Irish firms win a large slice of the €9 billion construction spend due in advance of the 2012 games.

"I would be very disappointed if Irish firms don't get half a billion euro in contracts out of the Olympics," said Frank Ryan, Enterprise Ireland chief executive.

Enterprise Ireland has already organised a number of events to introduce Irish companies to potential partners in the UK and is hoping to leverage UK construction firms with Irish roots such as civil engineering group Murphy.

Mr Ryan said encouraging local builders and other suppliers to the construction industry to enter the UK market was the first step in encouraging them to increase their geographic spread.

"They have been focusing on the domestic market in the last seven or eight years, so they may have neglected their international contacts," said Mr Ryan. "The UK is the ideal starting point to get them growing internationally."

He was speaking at the official launch of Enterprise Ireland's strategy document for 2008-2010 entitled Transforming Irish Industry.

In the document Enterprise Ireland says it is targeting new export sales of €4 billion through its client companies by 2010. It is also committing to supporting 200 new high-potential start-ups, with half of those being located outside the Dublin area. Investment in research and development will also be encouraged with the aim of increasing the number of companies spending more than €2 million annually to 55 by 2010 and 100 by 2013.

Mr Ryan said it was now critical to "strengthen the overall base of companies" by significantly increasing the number of mid-size companies, defined as those with sales of €20-30 million. The agency has set a target of 225 companies achieving €20 million or more in annual sales and another 635 having revenues of at least €5 million.

Enterprise Ireland is also seeking to expand the number of countries that indigenous firms export to. In 2006, 90 per cent of exports were generated by just 10 countries. Enterprise Ireland has now identified South America, Russia, the Gulf States, China, India and Mexico as high-priority markets and Mr Ryan said practical supports would be put in place to help Irish firms break into them.

The agency also plans to increase the focus on services and is establishing a dedicated internationally-traded services division. Mr Ryan said it was possible that within five years services could account for 50 per cent of total exports. "The future performance of indigenous firms is crucial to the growth of the economy," said Mr Ryan.