Ladies and Gentlemen, Ambassador, the Kennedy Family, Library, The Kennedy Library Foundation, Ambassador and Consul General.
It’s a great honour for me to stand here today in this building decorating one of the greatest heroes for both our countries: President John F Kennedy.
He embodies the success story of the Irish in America and the great links between our two countries. It is fitting that we meet today in this wonderful monument to the Kennedy family and in the city known worldwide to be the heart of Irish America.
And it brings to mind the quote from John F Kennedy himself about the links between our peoples:
“All of us of Irish descent are bound together by the ties that come from a common experience; experience which may exist only in memories and in legend but which is real enough to those who possess it”
Boston and Ireland are known around the world for their very strong historical and cultural links. But this gathering of business leaders shows that, today, our economic and trade links are equally strong. Boston is a clear location of choice for modern Irish companies coming to the US, both to develop new business and to establish new operations.
Undoubtedly, the Irish economy has gone through a difficult three years. We have had to adjust from over 10 years of very high growth rates to a period of austerity. However, almost one year into Government I am very happy to be able to say our country is in a much better position than this time last year. A year ago, we were reeling from the arrival of the troika of the IMF, ECB and the EU. Our people were coming to terms with reductions in pay and rising unemployment and a construction sector collapse.
Since coming into office, my Government has taken decisive and credible decisions and effective actions to remedy our banking sector and to stabilise our public finances.
Despite the challenges we have much to be proud of;
When the 2012 Budget package is taken into account, Ireland will have implemented consolidation measures amounting to in excess of 15% of GDP since 2008.
As a country we have avoided income tax increases and strongly protected our corporation tax of 12.5%.
And most importantly in 2011 we had a current account surplus and our economy returned to growth, the first time since 2007.
I am particularly heartened by the fact that last year saw record levels of exports. As a small open economy this is what will fuel our recovery.
Despite the global challenges, 2011 was one of the most successful years in the history of our State for both our indigenous companies’ exports and foreign direct investment. Companies supported by Enterprise Ireland became more competitive and targeted new opportunities in international markets achieving record exports that even exceeding pre-recession levels of 2008.
It was also a stand-out year for Foreign Direct Investment. The IDA achieved a record 148 international projects for Ireland leading to13,000 new jobs, a 20% increase on the previous year. Companies such as Twitter, Amgen and Coca Cola made decisions to invest significantly in our country.
Ireland is also becoming an attractive location for early stage and internationally mobile entrepreneurs who are benefiting from Enterprise Ireland’s €10 million fund established last year.
Ireland's competitiveness has improved and is continuing to improve significantly. The fundamentals for Ireland as a location for US investors and a competitive home for indigenous companies are improving all the time.
Unit labour costs and real estate costs have reduced dramatically.
We remain fully committed to our 12.5% corporate tax rate.
We have a young demographic and a flexible and hardworking workforce.
The World Bank's annual "Doing Business" report for 2011 found that Ireland provides the most supportive business environment in the Euro area.
The IBM Global Location Trends Report has found Ireland first in the world in terms of the value of projects and investments it attracts.
On Monday, we launched our new Action Plan for Jobs, which will play a major role in driving change to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business.
The Action Plan targets a range of sectors that have the capacity to grow such as manufacturing, life sciences, agri-food, digital games, ICT and tourism. It will also target other national competitiveness issues.
This plan will drive change and progress across Government and I will be taking a special interest in ensuring that it is delivered over the course of 2012.
Some of the practical initiatives we are taking to support SMEs are:
Establishing a “one-stop shop” for small business supports in each Local Authority, supported by a new Micro-Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland;
Introducing a €150million Development Capital Scheme aimed at addressing a funding gap for mid-sized, high-growth indigenous companies with significant prospects for jobs and export growth;
Launching shortly a micro finance and a loan guarantee scheme for SMEs;
Extending the corporation tax exemption for start-up companies until 2014;
Attracting more mobile international entrepreneurs to start businesses in Ireland through a €10million State fund for investment in international start-ups, improvements to immigration arrangements, a targeted marketing campaign, greater use of existing networks such as the diaspora.
My Government will shortly publish a policy statement on labour market activation "Pathways to Work", which will set out our strategy to reduce and prevent the drift into long term unemployment.
It is through trade that our economy will prosper. Our two countries have always had very strong ties and this is very much reflected in our trade relationship. The US is now Ireland’s largest export partner with over 22% of our exports coming here. Indeed this works both ways - the US is now Ireland’s second largest import partner.
It is widely known that many of the top American companies have substantial operations in Ireland and continue to put major investments into Ireland.
Likewise there are also many Irish companies with operations in the US, employing nearly 82,000 Americans in Irish companies across all 50 states. Many of these are involved in manufacturing, services and research and development centres.
In the last 3 years, nearly 150 Enterprise Ireland companies established presences in the US which is testament to the ability of Irish companies to compete on the world stage. I’m delighted that we have 35 of those companies here today with their customers and key business contacts.
The links and relationships you are forging here will help Ireland emerge stronger from the challenges that we are now experiencing. As a small open economy exporting most of our GDP, we suffer more than most when the world’s top economies experience a downturn. but the opposite also applies: we benefit greatly during upturns and we are increasingly well placed as things pick up internationally.
The US is once again showing leadership, being first out of the blocks in a world recovery. The top class Irish companies that I see before me here today, with their strong linkages to US companies and consumers, and the many US companies investing in our country are well placed to take advantage of this recovery. It gives me great hope to see the beginning of our export led recovery at gatherings such as this.
Partnerships between the best of Irish and US companies, trading with each other, innovating together and establishing operations in both countries will be of great benefit to both our nations.
I would like to thank you all and in particular the Kennedy family, Library and Foundation for their welcome and wish you all the best for today and for the future.