A NEW SURVEY has seen foreign investors and multinationals indicate they will invest around $7.5 billion in Ireland over the next three years – creating 20,000 new jobs in doing so.

The survey, commissioned by law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice and carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, says 97 per cent of foreign investors already have operations in Ireland plan to maintain or increase their Irish investments.

Financial services will account for half of the suggested 20,000 new jobs, while the technology sector will make up another quarter.

46 per cent of the investors based here cited Ireland’s access to other EU markets as the most attractive reason to set up here, while 29 per cent said the corporate tax rate was their main motivator for sticking around – and 44 per cent said it was what brought them here in the first place.

16 per cent of people cited double taxation agreements as a key reason to stay in Ireland, while 40 per cent ranked Ireland’s tax credits system for research and development as more competitive than those of other areas.

Elsewhere, 28 per cent of respondents said Ireland’s skilled workforce offered a competitive advantage, remarking that the workforce was “reliable and able to handle complexity”.

The report surveyed 315 senior executives from companies from across the US, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, just under half of whom were from the financial services industry.

In a hint that the Irish market itself is not a major concern for the firms, 51 per cent of respondents said the size of Ireland’s domestic market was a distinct disadvantage.

MOP managing partner Liam Quirke said the estimates for job creation “clearly show that foreign investors have a very positive attitude to Ireland.

“This survey is about understanding the needs of international business when making investment decisions, and how Ireland can better compete for such investments.

“It is important that policy-makers think about Ireland as an actual business, with actual customers, and make the needs of these customers a priority.”