Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D is currently on a 5-day IDA Ireland investment and marketing programme to the West Coast of the USA.

This visit will include one-on-one meetings with 11 companies considering new job-creation projects in Ireland. This is Minister Mitchell-O’Connor’s first major investment and marketing visit to the US since her appointment.

The Minister is accompanied by IDA Ireland Chief Executive Martin Shanahan on the visit to San Francisco and Los Angeles, which involves a total of 13 meetings and events. These include 11 one-on-one meetings with target and client companies considering new job-creation projects in Ireland. These 11 companies, mainly in the financial services, technology and life sciences sectors:

•Employ approximately 360,000 people globally
•Have total annual revenues of over $450billion
•Include multimillion dollar established companies as well as newer companies
•Include companies that already employ thousands of people in Ireland but are considering new investments, as well as companies considering locating operations here for the first time

The programme also includes an Enterprise Ireland networking event and an IDA Ireland client function.

Speaking before departing, Minister Mitchell-O’Connor said:

“This Government is committed to attracting more international companies to invest in Ireland. During this busy week I will be meeting 11 companies from a wide range of sectors that are considering creating new jobs in Ireland. When I meet senior executives from multinationals like these, they are highly impressed by what Ireland has to offer as a gateway to a European market. They are interested to hear about Ireland’s skilled workforce, our pro-business environment, our tax offering, our base of multinationals already here, and about developments that may affect our relationship with Europe such as Brexit. I look forward to communicating the clear message that Ireland is open for business and open for investment. I am confident that the discussions held this week will lead to jobs being created in the near future in cities and towns right across the country.”