EXPORTS BY companies supported by Enterprise Ireland grew by € 1.3 billion in 2008, according to the State agency’s annual report. The 3 per cent increase brings the total value of exports from Enterprise-Ireland backed companies to €14.3 billion in 2008.
However, yesterday’s report also revealed that, for the first time, the number of jobs lost in companies it supports exceeded the number of jobs created.
Enterprise Ireland-backed companies cut 18,525 jobs last year, while 10,522 new jobs were created, resulting in a net decline in employment of just over 8,000. Most of the job losses were in the construction, engineering and consumer sectors.
Speaking at the launch of the annual report in Dublin yesterday, chief executive Frank Ryan said Enterprise Ireland had to adjust its focus and support to help Irish companies deal with the changed economic environment. One of the key focuses for Enterprise Ireland was access to finance, he said.
The agency had income of
million last year, up from €279.8 million in 2007. According to financial accounts posted yesterday, it provided just over €220 million in financial support to industry in 2008. This was the highest level of funding ever granted by the agency.
Direct grants to client companies accounted for €100 million of disbursements. The balance was distributed indirectly, including €40 million of funding through “third parties”, predominantly county enterprise boards.
Mr Ryan said the enterprise agency was in discussion with the two main banks, Bank of Ireland and AIB, about providing funding to companies. Enterprise Ireland administers the enterprise stabilisation fund through which €100 million in government funding will be disbursed to viable businesses coming under extreme pressure. The agency said yesterday that €50 million has been allocated this year. The remainder will be allocated in 2010.
Enterprise Ireland provided support to 71 start-up companies last year, 42 of which were based outside Dublin and said it hoped these firms would create around 1,000 jobs over the next three years.
The agency generated €22.9 million from sales and the redemptions of shares it held in companies it supported and a further €1.4 million in dividends.
Mr Ryan defended a €4 million increase in salaries last year, saying that Enterprise Ireland had taken over Shannon Development in 2008, in the process acquiring 25 new workers. Enterprise Ireland has a staff of 850 and has 32 offices worldwide.
Mr Ryan also emphasised the importance of trade missions in sustaining and increasing Ireland’s export industry. He noted that Ireland’s export market “continued to be robust”.
He pointed out that exports to the Americas increased by 10 per cent in 2008 despite the fall of value in the dollar. “Important steps have been taken in Spain, the Middle East,” he said, while trade with Russia and Australia was “particularly strong”. He said that he believed that Russia, Brazil, the Gulf, and India would be the key markets in the coming years, and Ireland would be positioned to benefit from them.
