BUSINESS:IRELAND WILL almost certainly lose investment to other EU countries if the Lisbon Treaty is not ratified, the managing director of Microsoft Ireland said yesterday.
Paul Rellis was speaking at an event organised by employers’ body Ibec and the pro-Lisbon group Business for Europe at which senior business leaders outlined why a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum is critical for foreign direct investment
Mr Rellis said foreign direct investment had been a key driver of employment. Asked whether a No vote would affect the presence of multinational companies, Mr Rellis said the failure to ratify the treaty would be “extremely dangerous” in the long term.
“Investors want certainty when they are investing, certainty in terms of tax, what markets are available for them to access. Confidence plays a key role”
Geraldine Murphy, managing director of pharmaceutical company LEO Pharma Ireland,which employs 370 people in Crumlin, Dublin, and LittleIsland, Cork, said Ireland is facing increasing competition from other EU countries, particularly in Eastern Europe. “It’s a highly competitive market out there. You need to fight for every penny of investment” she said. She said a Yes vote would encourage inward investment in areas in most need of employment. She said that following a restructuring programme, LEO Pharma invested €60 million in Ireland in June, which will “directly benefit the people of Crumlin”.
Questioned on the subject of workers’ rights, Dr Paul Duffy, vice president of Pfizer, Ireland, said that the ratification of the treaty would not “disimprove” workers’ rights.
