The news on the jobs front could scarcely be better. The world's leading car rental company, Hertz, has confirmed that some 600 teleservices jobs will be created at a new plant in Swords, Co Dublin. And two separate projects in the health care and electronics' sectors could create an additional 1,300 jobs in the Munster region. Barring some last-minute hitch, it also appears that the US computer multinational IBM is poised to announce the establishment of a new £150 million plant with the potential to create up to 3,000 jobs in west Dublin.
It is already clear that 1996 will be a record year for job creation. By the end of this year, it is expected that the IDA will have approved projects with a combined employment potential of almost 20,000 jobs. And there are few signals, on the basis of the latest economic indicators, that the strong flow of inward investment is about to end. The IDA is entitled to a great deal of credit for these impressive statistics. The authority's prescience in deliberately targeting the electronics and services sector in the past decade is now reaping its reward.
The Hertz project represents a notable success for, Ireland which can only help to consolidate its strength in the international teleservices sector. This sector has become increasingly important in terms of job creation because of the trend among European companies to centralise administration and marketing in one location. A total of 42 such projects, generating some 3,090 new jobs, has now been established in Ireland. It is estimated that the sector has the potential to employ a further 2,000 more by the end of the decade.
The expected IBM announcement could represent a still more audacious coup for the IDA. Ireland's increasing success in the computer sector has been based on its ability to attract the market-leaders like Intel and Hewlett-Packard. IBM already has a strong presence and directly employs some 500 people in the Republic. But the expected decision to make such a sizeable investment in this State - despite intense competition from industrial promotion agencies in Scotland and elsewhere - is not just a tribute to Ireland's favourable grant aid structure. It also represents a high-profile vote of confidence in Ireland's young workforce and its communications infrastructure. For the Government the task now is to continue to create the best possible environment for inward investment.
There is still much work to be done; one priority is to ensure that the educational system continues to turn out sufficient numbers with the kind of technical, computer and language skills that are needed in the marketplace. Another is to ensure that the industrial infrastructure in key sectors like communications and transport keeps pace with what is demanded by the international business community. Ireland's ability to attract inward investment has been second to none.
But with stiff competition for every project and every job, the Government must not rest on its laurels.