Ireland remains an attractive location for American companies seeking a European base, according to the
newly elected president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland (ACCI).
Mr Ciaran Ennis has said that 66 per cent of 110 American companies surveyed expect to maintain or increase employment over the next 12 months while 60 per cent expect to increase investment during the same period.
Mr. Ennis is head of Marketing at IBM's pan European Sales and Marketing centre which employs over 600 people at Ballycoolin in Blanchardstown, Co. Dublin.
With over 570 US companies located in Ireland Mr. Ennis said Ireland has a 'magnificent base' on which to build future investment.
He said he
believed that the focus of IDA and Government policy must be to retain existing facilities and secure additional high value investment in them.
"As long as we retain the ability to perform higher value add activity and deliver higher productivity, a higher cost base can be justified", he said.
However he warned that Ireland could not afford huge increases in cost bases. "The increases we have seen over the past 12 to 18 months in the cost of telecommunications, utilities, insurance and transport are what make Ireland an expensive place to do business.
"Competition needs to be introduced and supported in these sectors as a matter of urgency," he added.
Mr Ennis highlighted operating costs, insurance, utilities and labour costs as areas that caused most concern amongst members of the Chamber.
He said it would be lobbying for the retention of the favourable corporate tax regime, which plays an important role in relation to the attraction, and retention of investment.
Currently, almost 90,000 people are employed in US companies in Ireland accounting for 65 per cent of all IDA supported employment.
Almost a quarter of all new green-field US investment into Europe comes to Ireland.