Skip to main content

Why Ireland for engineering investment

  • Ireland is the European location of choice for growing numbers of industrial engineering and technology companies in manufacturing, research and innovation

  • Principal industry sectors include automotive, aerospace, chemicals and advanced materials, automation and industrial technology

Source the skills you need to make your investment in Ireland a success

Connect with us

Source the skills you need to make your investment in Ireland a success

Connect with us
Business Deal Handshake

Leading Industry Names

Ireland’s strong and vibrant engineering industry supports a broad range of companies across many industries. It includes names like Liebherr, Henkel, Element Six, Sulzer and Thermoking. The sector contributes more than €5.6 billion annually to Irish exports.

  • The top eight industrial automation companies
  • Four of the top 10 global engineering design firms
Checklist

A Proven Track Record

Ireland has been attracting engineering companies for more than 50 years. Recently, many have expanded their operations to serve EMEA markets. Ireland is also developing into a hub for cutting-edge fields such as IoT, Industry 5.0, Connected Autonomous Vehicles and more.

  • 250+ industrial technology and engineering companies in Ireland
  • 23,000+ people employed in the engineering sector
Cash Bulb

Cutting-Edge Research

Ireland is an attractive location for researching new technologies, with 42% of engineering companies in Ireland already engaging in R&D activity. Ireland’s industry-led research centres specialise in areas like advanced materials, smart manufacturing and industrial automation.

  • Active R&D in emerging technologies
  • World-class research centres with strong industry focus
People Man Graduate

Strong Talent Pipeline

Engineering companies locating or expanding in Ireland can avail of skilled talent including recent graduates and staff already working in the sector. Ireland’s EU membership provides unrestricted access to a labour pool of more than 240 million people.

  • 45,000 third-level students enrolled in STEM fields at any one time
  • Ireland ranks first in the world for productivity in industry (OECD)
Cog Double

Ready for Disruption

As Industry 5.0 trends reshape engineering and manufacturing, IDA Ireland client companies are already working on R&D projects in augmented reality, industrial IoT, robotics and automation to enhance and optimise their manufacturing operations.

  • Government support for feasibility investigations to digitisation projects
  • 25% tax credit for all qualifying R&D activity

We selected Dublin because of its global business environment, talent, ability to support European languages, excellent long-term cost structure, and quality of life for employees. Dublin is a vibrant, multicultural and creative city. These qualities align well with our brand and culture and we think Dublin will be a great fit for us.

See similar companies in Ireland

Schneider
GM
United Technologies
Enernoc
Honeywell
Ingersoll
Valeo
Siemens
Aptiv
Airbus Helicopters
Pilz
Abbott
GE
DuPont
Liebherr
Jaguar
Henkel
ElementSix

Success Stories: Hear from leaders calling Ireland home

A proven path

See all Success Stories
MeiraGTx
Zendesk
dōTERRA
Pfizer
Ericsson
Qualtrics
Gene therapy startup chooses Ireland for commercial-scale manufacturing

Gene therapy startup chooses Ireland for commercial-scale manufacturing

MeiraGTx’s Shannon facility is unique, not only in Ireland but globally, as it streamlines gene therapy development, testing and manufacturing capabilities together in-house. This significantly reduces the time to patients for advanced therapeutic products, with months or potentially years saved.” -

Dublin site is a regional hub for product development

Dublin site is a regional hub for product development

Dublin is such a hub for big tech companies that you might think ‘if we come to Dublin, we’re going to be competing with all of them, we won't be able to get good staff’. But I think the opposite is true. Because we’ve got such a base of well recognised brands in Dublin, that actually brings qualified people from all over Europe here.

Company chooses Cork as its first international manufacturing site

Company chooses Cork as its first international manufacturing site

Our presence in Ireland has created employment opportunities for skilled workers, improved our ability to respond to our customers’ needs, and dramatically reduced our environmental impact.

Leading global player has invested $9 bn+ in Irish operations

Leading global player has invested $9 bn+ in Irish operations

Pharmaceutical manufacturing in Ireland continues to perform very well contributing strongly to exports and economic growth and provides excellent career opportunities.

One of Ireland’s largest enterprise software development centres 

One of Ireland’s largest enterprise software development centres 

Ericsson creates game-changing technologies and services that shape our future and here in Athlone, as one of Ericsson’s largest R&D centres, we are at the forefront of opening new possibilities in communication for the world.

Qualtrics Chooses Ireland for its Skills Base

Qualtrics Chooses Ireland for its Skills Base

Ultimately, what you want is a geography where you can build an office that has broad market coverage. For a company going into Europe, Ireland has the lowest cost to set up a business, with a broad pool of talent from across the EU

Find your European home

Find your European home