The Republic lagged its nearest competitors in attracting research and development (R&D) investment in the years between 2000 and 2002, according to an IDA Ireland report.
A document detailing the State's performance in attracting new multinational investors shows the State led competing countries in fields such as software. However, the report says it underperformed them in the key area of R&D, a sector singled out by the Government and its agencies as an important driver of future growth.
The figures show that of 25 new R&D projects which located in Europe between 2000 and 2002, just two investors began operations in the Republic. This compares with nine for the UK, five for France and three for Spain. Germany, Holland and Denmark also attracted two R&D projects.
US investors were responsible for 19 of the 25 projects, four came from Japan and two from the UK (these were cross-border investments within Europe). Both investors who located in the Republic came from the US. The UK was also the leader in attracting American R&D projects, accounting for six of the 19.
It was the first time that the IDA's board requested that R&D be included in the report. The report states that Spain's emergence as a location warrants further investigation. Investors there included high-profile names like Boeing, Intel, IBM and Nortel Networks.
The two Irish projects were RS Integrations, an €11 million semi-conductor research project that opened in Carrigtwohill, Cork, and Dowcorrig Plasma, a €3.5 million operation based at Midleton, also in Co Cork. An IDA spokesman said the University College Cork-backed National Micro-electronics Research Centre (NMRC) helped draw both to the region.
He explained that the report, compiled by Holland-based consultants, BCI Global, only counted projects that reached the start-up stage. The spokesman said the agency was approving 10 to 15 R&D projects a-year, and added that a large number had since come on stream. "We were only in the business two years and we managed to catch up with Germany," he said.
The report showed that overall, the Republic continued to perform well against increased competition. It attracted 42 per cent of software projects and 34 per cent of shared-services projects, leading fields of 11 and 10 states in those sectors respectively. It drew a quarter of all contact centres, placing it second to the UK.
The State accounted for 9 per cent of all manufacturing projects, ranking it four of 11. The report states that Central Europea consolidated its position as a base for large labour intensive projects.
That region grew its share in 2000 to 2002 to 44 per cent of manufacturing projects from 12 per cent in 1999 to 2001.
