Foreign investment being eroded by rising costs

Ireland's ability to attract foreign investment is being eroded by rising costs according to the newly elected President of the American Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Austin McCabe, Irish managing director of internet security firm Symantec, said we are no longer a low cost environment.

Non-labour costs across a range of sectors such as insurance, electricity and telecommunications have been rising rapidly in the last number of years with serious knock-on effects for competitiveness, he said.

Currently 570 US companies employ over 90,000 people in Ireland. US Foreign Direct Investment in Ireland is over $34 billion.

Mr McCabe called for the State's 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate to be enshrined in legislation to safeguard the economic gains of the last decade.

He said this was increasingly necessary in the face of increased pressure from the EU for the harmonisation of tax rates.

Mr McCabe also said the fall-off in science and computer graduates was of concern as was the need for continuous investment in infrastructure.

He warned: "The danger is that we are losing sight of the building blocks, which have brought us to the pinnacle of economic success."

Mr McCabe said that the American Chamber of Commerce is committed to working with the Government to ensure Ireland remains a key business location.