Economy

Former PwC boss Feargal O’Rourke named IDA Ireland chairman

O’Rourke to succeed Frank Ryan, who had held the job since 2014

Feargal O’ Rourke, the recently-retired former managing partner at PwC Ireland, is taking over as chairman of IDA Ireland. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Cliff Taylor
Tue Jan 2 2024 - 15:30

Feargal O’Rourke, the former managing partner of PwC, has been appointed as chairman of IDA Ireland. He will succeed Frank Ryan, who held the job since 2014, and takes up the post immediately.

Mr O’Rourke was appointed to the non-executive position by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, after a competition run by the Public Appointments Service. While no announcement has yet been made, Mr O’Rourke’s name has appeared on the list of IDA Ireland board directions on the official website, Stateboards.ie.

His appointment completes a change in leadership at IDA Ireland, with long-time chief executive Martin Shanahan departing last year to be replace by Michael Lohan.

Mr O’Rourke worked in PwC since October 1986, the last eight years as managing partner, before he left the firm in October. As a senior tax adviser to big multinational firms over the years, he would be familiar with many of the key issues facing Ireland in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and have contacts in many of the big companies.

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Mr O’Rourke, from Athlone, will chair a 12-person board with Marian Corcoran, head of management consulting at Accenture, as deputy chairwoman. The annual fee for chairing the board is given in the most recently-published IDA Ireland annual report as €20,520. The appointment is for a five-year term.

IDA Ireland’s latest employment survey showed a small fall in total employment in client firms over the past year, after a difficult few months for the tech industry.

With the introduction of the new 15 per cent minimum corporate tax rate for big multinationals, the tax agenda is now less prominent in attracting inward investment and IDA Ireland has recently emphasised the importance of what it calls the “carrying capacity” of the economy – in areas like housing, energy and water – as well as the need to keep developing the skills and research base.

A Government White Paper on enterprise, published in late 2022, identified integrating decarbonisation and the digital transformation as key issues for the next decade, as well as developing the IDA’s overall offering.

Cliff Taylor

Cliff Taylor

Cliff Taylor is an Irish Times writer and Managing Editor

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