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Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Enda Kenny TD At the opening of EA Games Site Galway

Ladies and Gentleman, I am delighted to be here today in Galway to open this wonderful facility.

I would like to welcome Ray and Greg who have travelled from the US to be here with us today.

Today EA and Bioware are announcing the creation of a further 200 jobs to add to the 200 jobs previously announced for the CEDS Centre in Galway.

This is a big vote of confidence in Ireland.

Economic outlook

While the international situation remains unpredictable, there are significant reasons to be optimistic about Ireland’s future.

The economy is beginning to grow again.

Our exports continue to perform strongly with a 7% increase recorded in the first quarter of this year.

Crucially, our balance of payments is now in surplus, proving the strength of our economic sustainability.

Our competitiveness has improved significantly. Business costs have fallen across the economy and labour costs are expected to reduce further this year.

Productivity grew last year at the highest rate since 2002.

The Government will take this opportunity – and see through the next round of fiscal adjustments.

Step by step. Decision by decision. Ireland is moving along the path to recovery.

Contribution of FDI

FDI in Ireland increased significantly in 2010. IDA clients account for over 70% of total Irish exports.

Ireland’s 12.5% rate of corporation tax remains sacrosanct and is a cornerstone of our economic policy and will remain so.

This view is shared across the political spectrum and public opinion in Ireland.

When talking about industry such as gaming, Ireland has a real opportunity of early-mover advantage in key sectors if we are willing to make key choices in our investment.

We must clear obstacles to growth and back the innovators.

That means supporting new industries like cloud computing, lifesciences, cleantech, digital content, the digital gaming industry and others.

The Gaming Sector

Today is another significant milestone in our journey of supporting these sectors.

Today’s announcement is welcome not only because of the direct jobs created. It will also assist in our efforts to grow the digital media industry in Ireland and in particular the gaming sector.I firmly believe that Irish people excel at creative industries. The blend of imagination and entrepreneurship is a natural advantage of the Irish when it comes to working in industries such as gaming.

This is why the new Government singled out support for the gaming industry in our Programme for Government. Ireland is well positioned to become an international hotbed of gaming development and activity.

With each generation more in tune with gaming than the next this industry is only going up. It is estimated that the global gaming industry will grow from €55 billion in 2010 to €82 billion in 2015.

Today in Ireland there are over 30 companies in the core video gaming sector employing over 2,000 people. A 400% increase since 2004!

The Government is introducing new measures to grow this figure even further. Enterprise Ireland is supporting start ups in the sector through its Competitive Start Fund for early stage Internet and games companies. The ten successful companies received €50,000 and the support of a business mentor to guide them. A further 15 companies have been selected with another call due before the end of the year.

Enterprise Ireland also supports management development of companies in the Internet / games industry through the iGap programme.

We are supporting cutting edge relevant research in a number of Higher Education Institutions including the Digital Enterprise Research Centre and System Dynamics Research Group here in Galway and Game CORE in the Institute of Technology in Carlow.

We hope that the location here of EA along with the other significant industry players already here will help us become an internationally connected hub for the games sector as we have for ICT, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

I believe that the inherent creativity of the Irish people and the natural affinity we have for story telling right back to the seanchaí tradition make us a perfect place to create a gaming sector hub.

Conclusion

Today is a great day for Galway.

I would like to congratulate everyone involved in bringing this Centre to Galway and wish you every success for the future.