Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe. There’s never been a better time to invest here. Here are six great reasons why firms should move their business to Ireland.
1. Tax
At 12.5%, Ireland’s corporate tax rate is one of the lowest in the world and has been attracting foreign firms to our shores for decades. What you may not know if that Ireland also offers companies a 25% tax credit for qualifying research and development expenditure, and can be set against a company’s corporation tax liability.
2. Workforce
Ireland’s educated, young, English-speaking workforce has long made it an attractive location for foreign companies. Ireland’s workforce is one of the most youthful and most highly-educated in Europe, so there’s is plenty of talent to choose from.
3. Funding
Enterprise Ireland has a €10m fund in place specifically to attract international startups to Ireland. Projects that meet the criteria and are fully investor ready can apply for support from the €10m fund, while new projects that are not entirely investor ready can apply to join an accelerator programme.
4. Mentoring and support
As well as funding, Enterprise Ireland offers a broad range of other supports to companies setting up here. These range from mentoring, incubation programmes, introductions to advisors and more. Ireland’s Local Enterprise Office (LEO) network also provides supports for SMEs looking to start a business in Ireland, including financial aid, training, and networking events held throughout the year.
5. Pro-business culture
Ireland regularly places highly in Forbes’ annual ranking of the best countries in the world to do business in, finishing in first place in 2011. Last year we placed fourth, behind Denmark, New Zealand and Norway. Ireland is Europe’s fastest-growing economy, and Dublin, in particular, has become a hub for financial services, biotech, pharma, ICT and more, with everyone from Google to Citibank setting up homes here. Ireland’s thriving startup scene is further evidence of the pro-business culture that’s taken root here.
6. Quality of life
Ireland isn’t necessarily cheap, but the cost of living in Dublin is still considerably lower than cities like London or New York. Also, Irish people reportedly have an average life satisfaction of 8.2 out of 10 (the OECD average is 6.6), while a 2016 survey by Indeed found that employees in Dublin are the happiest in Europe. Companies looking to set up in Ireland will find Ireland’s quality of life useful when recruiting top talent internationally, or convincing existing key staff to move over.
READ MORE: There’s never been a better time to start a business in Ireland.
Article and infographic by Peter Flanagan. Images from Shutterstock.
