Minister Dara Calleary Addresses AmCham Members at West-North-West Dinner
AmCham was delighted to have Minister Dara Calleary TD, Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht join us as Guest of Honour at the 2025 AmCham West-North-West region Dinner this week.
Speaking at the event, which was sponsored by KPMG, Minister Calleary highlighted the continued strength and resilience of Ireland when it comes to attracting US investment.
He said: “Ireland is home to 9 of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies and 9 of the top 10 US tech firms. That’s not by accident. It’s the result of decades of smart policy, strong partnerships, and a relentless focus on talent and innovation.”
He noted that “2024 may have been posed as a challenging year for FDI, but US investments remained strong, and two-thirds of investments won by IDA were from US companies.”
“These firms in Ireland are at the forefront of innovation, embracing R&D and placing the green and digital transitions at the core of their transformational work."
Minister Calleary said that Government will continue to drive forward competitiveness in Irish operations, ensuring strategic areas including innovation, digitalisation, talent development and sustainability are prioritised.
He said: “We are ranked 4th globally in the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings. We have the highest proportion of young people with tertiary education in the EU.”
“Nonetheless, we in Government are acutely aware of competitiveness challenges that exist in areas of water and wastewater, planning, and energy, but we are consistently looking at ways to ensure we are tackling these challenges, most notably through our NDP investments in our infrastructure and maintaining Ireland’s reputation as a stable and secure economy.”
Also speaking at the Dinner, AmCham 2025 President, Liz Cunningham highlighted the strength of the talent, education and research eco-system in the region. She said: “Perhaps one of the region’s greatest strengths – which we heard at our conference - is the collaboration between those third level institutions and our member companies to facilitate groundbreaking research and development.”
She said: “In a recent AmCham survey, 88 percent of respondents across region said they have availed of Ireland’s R&D tax credit in the last 5 years. Additionally, 75 percent of West-North-West respondents said they were currently undertaking one or more research projects – with the greatest amount of research taking place in AI, software and sustainability.”
Liz added: “We know that these research facilities represent high value jobs and investment, and it is critical that we continue to develop and attract top research talent and enhance the overall research eco-system here.”
During the event, AmCham was delighted to present its 2025 West-North-West Cairdeas Award to Croí Heart and Stroke Charity, for the incredible work they are doing in leading the fight against heart disease and stroke, while supporting patients and families.