Good news for once from Intel Leixlip

omahaid

A nice few bob being invested into Fabs 10/14. There was a lot of speculation over the last few years about Intel Leixlip so does this allay those fears?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2011/0115/1224287579429.html

TECHNOLOGY GIANT Intel has begun a $500 million (€375 million) refit of its Leixlip, Co Kildare, factory which will create 850 construction jobs, with an initial 200 technology workers being hired in advance of the new facility being completed.

The decision will offer a major boost for the Irish economy if, as expected, Intel goes ahead with locating a new production line in Co Kildare. Intel is investing an initial $500 million to upgrade the manufacturing facility but the ultimate cost could run into billions of euro.

The construction project, which involves a total refit of one of the older factories on the Kildare campus, is expected to take two years to complete.

In an interview with The Irish Times , Intel Ireland general manager Eamonn Sinnott, described the decision by the business’s parent to invest in Ireland as a “watershed” for the local operations.

“What this decision represents is it sets us up for the next 20 years,” said Mr Sinnott. “I think it’s fair to say we’ve all been working hard on this for a long time.”

Intel Ireland management have been working for the last five years to secure new investment for the plant. The last major investment at the facility was the $2 billion put into building and fitting out a factory called Fab 24-2, which was announced in mid-2004.

Mr Sinnott said declines in energy and construction costs over the last three years had helped convince Intel to choose Ireland. But he said maintaining the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate in the face of European pressure was key.

“If we had signalled we were willing to trade our corporate tax rate they would have factored that into their calculations and that would have a different result than the one that we have,” said Mr Sinnott.

Although no formal decision had been made to produce a new line of computer chips in Leixlip, the US corporation would not be investing such a significant sum of money if it did not expect a return on its investment, according to Mr Sinnott.

While it is unclear how many positions may ultimately be created as a result of the investment, the decision will secure current jobs at one of the State’s biggest private sector employers. Intel and its contractors employ about 4,000 in Co Kildare, while Intel employs another 300 staff at a research and development facility in Shannon, Co Clare. Worldwide the semiconductor company has 82,500 staff.

The factory which is being renovated, Fab 14, closed in the summer of 2009 with the loss of 300 jobs. At that point Intel management said the plant would be stripped down to make it ready for future investments.

On Thursday night Intel reported financial results for the fourth quarter which were the best in its 42-year history. Total sales for 2010 came in at $43.6 billion, an increase of $8.5 billion, or 24 per cent, on its 2009 performance. “2010 was the best year in Intel’s history. We believe that 2011 will be even better,” said Paul Otellini, chief executive of Intel.

To meet demand, the company said it would invest $9 billion on factories and other capital spending this year. In 2010 it spent $5.2 billion. Each giant factory costs about $2.5 billion to build, although the costs in Ireland will be lower as a building is already in place.

Intel also said it will have four factories producing its latest generation of technologies at a time rather than its current model of having three factories working in parallel.

Although 70 per cent of Intel’s manufacturing capacity is in the US, the Irish plant is increasingly competing against factories in Israel and China to win investment. “This demonstrates that we can compete,” said Mr Sinnott.

Israel has been working hard to get the firm to expand its operations there. Last October Israel’s finance ministry offered grants of about €135 million if Intel upgraded its factories in the country.

RichardAnd

That is great news. Not only does it create some employment in the short term, it means that Intel aren't going to give up on us and move out if they're willing to invest as such.

Of course, someone will be here shortly to put a negative spin on it but from me, I say thank you Intel

omahaid

Wonder why it isn't on the RTE website?

macannrb

This is great news. The multinational corps are what seem to be powering Ireland along

Amhran Nua

macannrb wrote: »

This is great news. The multinational corps are what seem to be powering Ireland along

And imagine what could be achieved if half the effort that went into creating and promoting the property bubble went instead into real enterprise.

later12

Wait for it... wait for it....

Praetorian

It actually seems like a small enough amount of money if its for upgrading the fab to a new process, is it upgrading one of the fabs to 22nm or smaller process?

What are they actually making in kildare right now, chipsets is it?

mike65

RichardAnd wrote: »

That is great news. Not only does it create some employment in the short term, it means that Intel aren't going to give up on us and move out if they're willing to invest as such.

Of course, someone will be here shortly to put a negative spin on it but from me, I say thank you Intel

later10 wrote: »

Wait for it... wait for it....

All this investment will achieve is a boost to GDP with few jobs to show for it. There happy now?! :pac:

Taxi Drivers

mike65 wrote: »

All this investment will achieve is a boost to GNP with few jobs to show for it. There happy now?! :pac:

GDP?? GNP is what we get to keep.

Funfair

This reminds me of a spray I've seen on Counter Strike

muppet_man

RichardAnd wrote: »

Of course, someone will be here shortly to put a negative spin on it

Here's me waiting to get a redundenty cheque for 11 years service and they go announce this. Thanks

Ruby99

Does anyone know which company will be doing the construction work?

Fitzerb

RichardAnd wrote: »

That is great news. Not only does it create some employment in the short term, it means that Intel aren't going to give up on us and move out if they're willing to invest as such.

Of course, someone will be here shortly to put a negative spin on it but from me, I say thank you Intel

I think you are safe for a while. The thread name did not mention FF and the fact that the heading is good news means the normal moaning lefties will stay away but let me see if I can bait them in to the discussion.

Fair play to FF. Their policy is working see, 1000 new jobs in Intel. We must return them to Government......

Watch them come on now RichardAnd

later12

Fitzerb wrote: »

Fair play to FF. Their policy is working see, 1000 new jobs in Intel. We must return them to Government......

Watch them come on now RichardAnd

Bully for that Minister for Enterprise, Batt O'Keefe :pac:

I'm not sure how we could put an appropriately negative spin on this. I suppose we should begin by proclaiming ourselves allergic to FDI and bemoaning anything that was not made by a legion of blind Irish nuns in a Connemara cottage industry.

Welease

later10 wrote: »

Bully for that Minister for Enterprise, Batt O'Keefe :pac:

I'm not sure how we could put an appropriately negative spin on this. I suppose we should begin by proclaiming ourselves allergic to FDI and bemoaning anything that was not made by a legion of blind Irish nuns in a Connemara cottage industry.

Not a negative spin, but i think some reality has to be interjected..

With the reductions in nanometer processes, you get less throughput for the same factory space than with previous generations. This has led to concerns over global factory shortages in the semi conductor industry beyond 2016.. It has helped that the Ireland factory is high performing, and that is a credit to the people who work there.. but as Barrett previously stated Ireland has lost the vast majority of reasons why Intel originally located here (15 reasons down to 1 (Corp tax)).
It's fantastic news that Intel have put more $$ down into Leixlip (and continue to hire in Shannon), but those reasons may not extend to other industries..

Inverse to the power of one!

Fitzerb wrote: »

The normal moaning lefties will stay away but let me see if I can bait them in to the discussion.

Stereotype much or just the people who don't bend over and pucker up to your outlook?

Also, it's a good forum for discussion, if you want to bait, Thunderdome is that way --->>>

ON TOPIC.....
It's a positive indicator on the whole, and given the timing is good news in that Intel see some value in remaining in Ireland in the short-term.

FDI is probably the only shovel we have to dig ourselves out at the moment, the key question is how well we can nurture and manage it. For the countries sake, let us hope that the next Govt. gets it right in this regard.

lmimmfn

Praetorian wrote: »

It actually seems like a small enough amount of money if its for upgrading the fab to a new process, is it upgrading one of the fabs to 22nm or smaller process?

yeah id like to know this too, hope its for the newer high end PC/server designs rather than for crappy old 40nm or whatever

thebman

Fitzerb wrote: »

I think you are safe for a while. The thread name did not mention FF and the fact that the heading is good news means the normal moaning lefties will stay away but let me see if I can bait them in to the discussion.

Fair play to FF. Their policy is working see, 1000 new jobs in Intel. We must return them to Government......

Watch them come on now RichardAnd

We can just say what it is though, article heading could easily be Intel to stay in Ireland despite FF mismanagement of economy :P

Now ya happy!

I think most of the credit for the jobs should go to the workers in Lexlip from management to the floor if these jobs come about as they are the ones keeping the plant competitive despite rising cost of doing business here during the 00's.

I'm pretty sure Intel aren't refitting the plant because of the Croke Park Agreement :pac:

later12

Inverse to the power of one! wrote: »

FDI is probably the only shovel we have to dig ourselves out at the moment, the key question is how well we can nurture and manage it. For the countries sake, let us hope that the next Govt. gets it right in this regard.

This is true. It is also true that increased FDI opens the state's economy to global vulnerabilities to a greater degree, but given the size of our consumer economy, and barring a massive population spike, we will always be exposed to such vulnerabilities, whether industry is home grown or foreign in nature.

FDI is not the answer to all of our woes. But it is an excellent start. You cannot turn around Irish industry overnight, a considerable struggle is going to be educating a workforce in science and mathematics, and that will take years to turn around if we even manage it at all.

But for now, FDI is a pretty decent shovel. I wouldn't go burying it.

Inverse to the power of one!

You cannot turn around Irish industry overnight, a considerable struggle is going to be educating a workforce in science and mathematics, and that will take years to turn around if we even manage it at all.

The really cool thing is that we've already achieved a lot in this regard, with an outlook towards R&D becoming a growth area in our economy.

The real problem now how ever is we are now watching our best and brightest leaving. It would be of the highest order of foolishness to just assume that only tradespeople and the unemployed are leaving in the current exodus, The highly educated are also just as sick of it all as everyone else.

Why stay when:
-Cheaper cost of living elsewhere
-Better R&D opportunities
-Better Job opportunities
-More open societies with fairer socioeconomic and governmental infrastructures
-Lower TAX
-Better weather ;-P

It will be the new govt's challenge to turn this round.....

maninasia

later10 wrote: »

This is true. It is also true that increased FDI opens the state's economy to global vulnerabilities to a greater degree, but given the size of our consumer economy, and barring a massive population spike, we will always be exposed to such vulnerabilities, whether industry is home grown or foreign in nature.

FDI is not the answer to all of our woes. But it is an excellent start. You cannot turn around Irish industry overnight, a considerable struggle is going to be educating a workforce in science and mathematics, and that will take years to turn around if we even manage it at all.

But for now, FDI is a pretty decent shovel. I wouldn't go burying it.

There are literally thousands and thousands of educated Irish scientists and engineers working all over the world. Ireland has been churning out well educated people for decades, our 3rd level attendance rate is higher than most European countries.
The problem is NOT a shortage of qualified graduates, the problem is a lack of entrepeneurial culture and the cost of doing business. To have a successful business is a complex mix and is highly dependent on understanding what the market wants, not what you think it wants. You need to have close contact and knowledge of the market from sales and marketing people and also a criticial core of businesses to work together, to speed production time, to lower costs, to partner to get larger projects etc. The science and engineering bit is just one component and I think a lot of government types who have never worked in business actually have no clue about this!

What happens is many of the best scientists/engineers and business people leave Ireland in their 20s during one of our cyclical downturns (semi-permanent downturns ), by the time things are on the uptick these people are doing well overseas and have established themselves and reluctanct to return to such an unstable country and one that is frankly expensive and unattractive to setup up in beyond a 12.5% tax rate.
It's early days to see how things shake up, if NAMA hadn't been set up property and rents could have dropped more quickly, maybe more companies could have taken advantage of this to lower costs. Speaking as a long-term emigrant I have been watching shows about the health service there..then compare to where I am setup, it just puts me off moving back (increased taxes put me off too but it was the low taxes that helped to cause the bust). The other thing that puts me off moving back is the skangers and the cost of things there...you get charged for everything it seems.

RichardAnd

Inverse to the power of one! wrote: »

The real problem now how ever is we are now watching our best and brightest leaving. It would be of the highest order of foolishness to just assume that only tradespeople and the unemployed are leaving in the current exodus, The highly educated are also just as sick of it all as everyone else.

A very well used comment which, whilst not true, is something of a fallacy. The best and brightest graduates, by and large, are the ones getting the jobs here. The majority of the ones emigrating are the graduates with useless degrees and simply, those who got a poor toss of the coin.

No not everyone leaving is a tradesman. However, I would like to point out one of the greatest misconceptions of Irish society. This might shock some people but...Having an education does not in the least make a person "bright". Whilst there is some truth that some very talented people have emigrated, many many more have not.

theteal

Ruby99 wrote: »

Does anyone know which company will be doing the construction work?

Mercury iirc

maninasia

RichardAnd wrote: »

A very well used comment which, whilst not true, is something of a fallacy. The best and brightest graduates, by and large, are the ones getting the jobs here. The majority of the ones emigrating are the graduates with useless degrees and simply, those who got a poor toss of the coin.

No not everyone leaving is a tradesman. However, I would like to point out one of the greatest misconceptions of Irish society. This might shock some people but...Having an education does not in the least make a person "bright". Whilst there is some truth that some very talented people have emigrated, many many more have not.

Perhaps change for the most ambitious. Ireland is a small country so it won't ever be able to fulfill everybody's dreams, but at least it should be able to keep more of it's young people (and not so young).

danbohan

RichardAnd wrote: »

A very well used comment which, whilst not true, is something of a fallacy. The best and brightest graduates, by and large, are the ones getting the jobs here. The majority of the ones emigrating are the graduates with useless degrees and simply, those who got a poor toss of the coin.

No not everyone leaving is a tradesman. However, I would like to point out one of the greatest misconceptions of Irish society. This might shock some people but...Having an education does not in the least make a person "bright". Whilst there is some truth that some very talented people have emigrated, many many more have not.

and what facts have you to back this up? , i am sure it will be as it always was , the people with most ambition and spark will be the ones to leave , we will be left with the rest as before which explains why we have ended up with the type of politicians and public servants we have now

gurramok

Someone asked for negativity

So they are rehiring 300 long term workers who lost their jobs in 2009, no gain there. 850 workers just got a 2 yr contract, thats some good news along with Intel's vote of confidence in investing here.

We need many of these announcements to stop the massive brain drain and give some opportunity to our young graduates.

newmug

danbohan wrote: »

and what facts have you to back this up? , i am sure it will be as it always was , the people with most ambition and spark will be the ones to leave , we will be left with the rest as before which explains why we have ended up with the type of politicians and public servants we have now

Bull. The poorest, the most indebted, and the ones who have no other choice make up the vast, vast majority of those who leave.

HellFireClub

muppet_man wrote: »

Here's me waiting to get a redundenty cheque for 11 years service and they go announce this. Thanks

More fool you for allowing 11 irreplacable years of your life to be wasted in this manner.

To all the folks cheerleading Intel on here, you should try working in the place for a few years before you come on here giving Intel a standing ovation...

thebman

HellFireClub wrote: »

More fool you for allowing 11 irreplacable years of your life to be wasted in this manner.

To all the folks cheerleading Intel on here, you should try working in the place for a few years before you come on here giving Intel a standing ovation...

I lived with 3 guys who worked in Intel and none of them had much problem with the place. They certainly didn't seem like they were being exploited in anyway.

declanx

Great news for the people left there, but two years after first tool move in layoffs will happen again...unless F24 gets a green light for something new.

muppet_man

Originally Posted by muppet_man
Here's me waiting to get a redundenty cheque for 11 years service and they go announce this.

HellFireClub wrote: »

More fool you for allowing 11 irreplacable years of your life to be wasted in this manner.

To all the folks cheerleading Intel on here, you should try working in the place for a few years before you come on here giving Intel a standing ovation...

Sounds like you've done your stint in Intel, was it ISP or VSP?

To be honest Intel is far from the worst place to be, I'd hate to have to actually work for a living. My soft hands were not made for manual work

HellFireClub

thebman wrote: »

I lived with 3 guys who worked in Intel and none of them had much problem with the place. They certainly didn't seem like they were being exploited in anyway.

muppet_man wrote: »

Sounds like you've done your stint in Intel, was it ISP or VSP?

To be honest Intel is far from the worst place to be, I'd hate to have to actually work for a living. My soft hands were not made for manual work

I remember being very well looked after in terms of pay, they were very generous with quarterlies and all of that stuff, I wouldn't have any complaints in that regard, however the place has a very heavy "culture", you find that working there changes you, you start talking your little "Intel" language when you're not at work, some people I worked with loved the place, but it certainly wasn't for me. There is a high risk of becoming completely institutionalised in Intel, I know some people who left there around the same time I did the year before last and they have not worked since, because they were too mollycoddled when they were in Intel. These folks thought that all workplaces involved endless meetings about safety issues and "owning" your own improvement project, and spending half your working week in training meetings or else building fancy spreadsheets for your supervisor.

later12

maninasia wrote: »

There are literally thousands and thousands of educated Irish scientists and engineers working all over the world. Ireland has been churning out well educated people for decades, our 3rd level attendance rate is higher than most European countries.

We are probably churning them out all over the world because they don't have the same job opportunities here. Why don't they have the same job opportunities here? Well, partly because of unit labour costs, partially because of domestic demand, partially because of domestic entrepreneurial timidity, but not insignificantly, because we are 18th and 26th in Science and Mathematics respectively, according to OECD/PISA rankings.

We simply do not have an adequately educated Scientific base. This is a real problem for anyone seeking to locate and recruit in Ireland within the scientific or technical industries.

http://www.amcham.ie/article.aspx?id=647

The reduction in the number of students opting to sit the higher level Leaving Cert papers in maths and science is a barrier to Ireland fulfilling its potential as a knowledge economy, according to the American Chamber of Commerce.

Today’s Leaving Cert results showed that only 16 per cent of students took higher level maths and just 10 per cent of students took higher level chemistry, while just 8 per cent took higher level physics.

It also emerged this week that the highest level of drop out at third level is in maths and science related courses. There is clearly a fundamental problem in Ireland in the teaching of these subjects and the way they are presented to students and this is translating from first to second to third level.

ardmacha

The Intel investment is just part of the jigsaw. There is hope for the future

Ronan Lyons, oft cited here, thinks so.
http://www.sbpost.ie/guest-writer/11-reasons-for-optimism-53948.html

11 reasons for optimism
16 January 2011 By Ronan Lyons

As we face into 2011, it’s worth taking stock.

Throughout 2010, and particularly in the final three months, there was lots of doom and gloom about the Irish economy, with plenty of talk of Ireland going bust and losing its economic sovereignty.

This is simply not the case. Everyone knows that Ireland has its problems. Two cornerstones of the Irish economy - the government and the banking system - are in dire straits financially.

The three big drivers of employment growth in the 2000-2007 period - public services, construction and retail - are in various states between stasis and major contraction. However, there is much more to Ireland and much more to its economy than the government, banks and builders.

Looking ahead, here are 11 things about Ireland’s economy that I hope will convince you all is not lost.

1. Ireland is not bust

At the height of the boom, Ireland was borrowing up to €10 billion a year from the rest of the world. This year, Ireland may not have to borrow from the rest of the world at all.

So why all this talk of Ireland being bust?

What people actually mean is that the Irish exchequer is heavily indebted, not the Irish country as a whole.

Our current account balance of payments has been moving into surplus.

So the important point is that the non-government part of the economy, a combination of households and companies, has been earning, saving and paying down debt over the past two years at a faster rate than the government has been borrowing.

So there’s definitely money here in Ireland, lots probably in nervy savings accounts.

The tricky bit is making sure enough of it gets to the government on the right terms.

2. Farmers had a great year in 2010

While real income has been at best static for large swathes of Irish society, Ireland’s farmers had a bumper year in 2010.EUfigures suggest that the typical Irish farmer’s income increased by almost 40 per cent in 2010,well ahead of the typical 10 per cent increase seen in the EU.

Tillage farmers have done particularly well From price increases in cereals and potatoes, but dairy farmers have also done well, with milk prices up 10 per cent.

3.Top of the world for tourism

Irish tourism had a tough year in 2010, and between 2007 and 2010, there was a cumulative fall in revenues and visitors of about a third. Nonetheless, there is a general sense that 2010 will mark the bottom of the cycle.

Two factors that may help Are Tourism Ireland’s campaign to coincide with the British census and a new flight service connecting North Carolina to Ireland.

What will also help is that the readers of Frommers have voted Ireland as the top tourist destination in the world, while Le Guide de Routard has voted Ireland’s restaurants as offering the best combination of quality, value and service.

4. Exporters continue to outperform

Ireland was one of the world’s only developed countries not to experience a sharp fall in exports during the greatest collapse in trade in recent history.

(The global recession was just a coincidence for Ireland.) The only downside to this is that exporters here could not expect to have the rebound that many of their counterparts elsewhere have enjoyed.

And yet, year-on-year growth in Irish exports soared from 4 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 to 15 per cent in the third quarter.

Not only that, but the indications from the final quarter are very positive.

A survey of exporters found growing optimism during late 2010.Almost half expected their orders to grow, while just one in six expected their exports to shrink.

Despite taking a hit in 2008 and 2009,our exports are rebounding in 2010 and 2011.This looks set to continue into 2011: the Irish Exporters Association expects exports to grow 7 per cent this year.

5.A world-leading service exporter

I have never really understood the association of economic success with tangible commodities and manufacturing. ‘‘Things’’ are only valuable because they are useful to people, and usefulness is an entirely intangible concept.

Services, intangible by nature but definitely useful because people are willing to pay for them, constitute four-fifths of economic activity in modern economies.

Technological advances mean that, pretty soon, services will also make up about half of all trade and the bulk of growth in trade.

For example, in Ireland, since the start of 2009, manufacturing exports per quarter have grown €1.3 billion, while service exports per quarter have grown €3.2 billion.

Therefore, I’m not sure Ireland should turn its back on a growth market in pursuit of a manufacturing El Dorado, particularly when Ireland is ahead of the curve already on services trade: 46 per cent of our exports come from service sectors, more than almost any other developed economy.

6. Regaining cost competitiveness

As late as 2009,Dublinwas among the ten most expensive cities in the world for office rents.

For modern economic activity, which is services dominated, property costs are one of the most important items of expenditure.

They make up perhaps 10 per cent of costs in services and R&D, and underpin typically one third of wage costs, which constitute three-quarters of the cost base. So property costs are responsible directly or indirectly for about one-third of all costs.

Therefore, the fact that prime city centre rents have since fallen by almost half in two years is fantastic news for Ireland’s competitiveness.

Not only that, but with high vacancy rates, there is still downward pressure on commercial rents, particularly in secondary areas, which makes IDA Ireland’s job that bit easier.

Accommodation costs also look likely to fall in 2011, so that will ease the wage demands of new workers, which means less pressure on the single most important cost, which is wages.

7.The IDA continues to find more jobs

A few weeks ago, I outlined some of the great successes that IDA Ireland has had in recent months. Since then, there have been more job announcements in a range of sectors and locations across the country.

2010 was a bumper year for the IDA, with more than 11,000 jobs created - again created, not announced - and they are essentially using that bumper year as their baseline for 2011 and the years following, with a target of about 65,000 jobs by 2014.

8. Ireland has its own ICT players

Much is often made of global giants coming here and using Ireland as a base for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

A number of local successes have emerged from Ireland, and that pipeline will continue.

We have already seen relatively significant companies emerge from Ireland in recent years, such as Havok (now a part of Intel), Hostelworld and DemonWare (part of Activision Blizzard).

Currently, there is a generation of Irish successes emerging and going international, such as Jolt in gaming, Realex and Intrade in relation to money online, and VoiceSage and Blueface in communications.

Behind them again, the next generation is already starting, such as two highlighted by Adrian Weckler in this paper last week,tweak.com in design/ publishing and Datahug in relationship management.

9. Ireland’s life science successes

A second key sector in job announcements over the past few months - and indeed past generation - has been life sciences, a broad sector that includes pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices.

For those trapped in the mindset of ‘‘why can’t we create our own jobs instead of importing them’’, it’s worth remembering that Ireland’s targeting of jobs from abroad in these activities has spawned a very significant number of local companies that almost certainly would not exist otherwise.

And it’s not just Irish spin-offs of multinationals. Early in 2010,Galway-based Crospon launched its own spin-off, Janisys. In fact, according to Enterprise Ireland, of 160 medical technology companies here, 90 are Irish-owned.

And there are other life science success stories too.

Have you ever heard of Icon? Icon is an Irish company listed on the Nasdaq, and one of the world’s leading ‘‘central lab’’ service providers. In plain English, it does very high-skilled outsourcing services for pharma, biotech and medical devices firms.

10. Ireland is exporting education

There is a €4 billion export opportunity for Ireland, in terms of physically bringing students here to learn.

We must also consider, though, licensing our education services abroad or exporting them online.

On bringing students here, and on licensing their service abroad, consider the success of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In Ireland, the college has 3,500 students, 70 per cent of whom are non-Irish. In addition to many noneconomic benefits, these students bring jobs (RCSI has about 800 staff) and spending to the local economy (it’s estimated each student spends about €8,000 locally per year).

This is something that, if well managed, could be replicated across the country. In the online sphere, there are a number of institutions with a growing profile.

They range from the reasonably well established, such as Hibernia College, which recently won an elearning award, and Intuition.com, which now has offices in New York, London and Singapore, to an impressive group of new companies.

11. Ireland’s entrepreneurs

An argument you often hear about jobs is that ‘‘It’s all well and good attracting jobs from abroad, but why don’t we have more home-grown jobs?" Hopefully the last few items have shown that these are in fact complements. In a modern economy, activity tends to agglomerate in certain locations.

If we can’t attract foreign capital and labour here, we are less likely to keep domestic capital and labour here also.

The reverse is also true.

By attracting so much foreign direct investment into Ireland, it can look from a narrow perspective as if we are diverting those most likely to set up local companies into multinationals. In fact, viewed from a bigger perspective, we are making sure there is an economic future in Ireland by creating a hub where local business can emerge.

Conclusion

So, while Ireland faces very significant challenges, we should not write ourselves off just yet.

Yes, our problems are largely our own fault in not preparing for life in the eurozone.

The next five budgets are going to be tough ones for everyone. And Ireland in 2016 will not be what we might have thought it would be back in 2006. But Ireland in 2016 will probably be a far better place to live than any of us thought possible in 1996,1986 or indeed any previous decade.

The Celtic tiger was not a mirage. We have a very real economy that, with a good bit of hard work and with a fundamental reorganisation of how government raises and spends money, can deliver for us again.

declanx

@ardmacha
I enjoyed you post. Didn't agree with it all, but that's life.
I just have one question on point 5.A world-leading service exporter:

"For example, in Ireland, since the start of 2009, manufacturing exports per quarter have grown €1.3 billion, while service exports per quarter have grown €3.2 billion."

How many people are employed in both area's? Just wondering.

newmug

Intel are the masters of ****e PR. The word was on the internet, in the papers, and on the news A WEEK AGO about a new investment and 800 new jobs. But they still havent told us on the floor whats happening. There's 200 of us in IFO who are still look like we're facing ISP in 6 weeks

nizo888

declanx wrote: »

Great news for the people left there, but two years after first tool move in layoffs will happen again...unless F24 gets a green light for something new.

What is your source for this?

BlaasForRafa

omahaid wrote: »

A nice few bob being invested into Fabs 10/14. There was a lot of speculation over the last few years about Intel Leixlip so does this allay those fears?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2011/0115/1224287579429.html

We shouldn't get too complacent, even though this is good news. This investment is part of a worldwide investment plan by Intel. They are putting $2.7billion into their Israel plant which employs 7000 people http://english.themarker.com/intel-to-invest-2-7-billion-in-israel-chip-plant-1.337786

later12

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

We shouldn't get too complacent, even though this is good news. This investment is part of a worldwide investment plan by Intel. They are putting $2.7billion into their Israel plant which employs 7000 people http://english.themarker.com/intel-to-invest-2-7-billion-in-israel-chip-plant-1.337786

Another possible problem is that Intel are part of a US business consortium who are putting pressure on the Obama administration to reform US corporate taxation policy to bring them further into line with their global counterparts in the technology sector.
While Silicon Valley is as strong as ever and in light of the recent Facebook valuation, and 15 of the world's top 20 universities situated there, it's easy to be dismissed as scaremongering to write down the US technology industry. But actually it looks stronger than it really is as a historical relic of its former strength. In reality it is under threat from the emerging economies who know that they are increasingly competitive in the industry, and that development will not be lost on US policymakers amid their ongoing economic woes.

If they decide to go ahead and yield to pressure from the technological corporate body then that could be very bad news for Ireland.

At the moment of course, anything we can get is good - but we shouldn't lose sight of our long term goals or ignore an indigenous stimulus altogether.

HellFireClub

later10 wrote: »

Another possible problem is that Intel are part of a US business consortium who are putting pressure on the Obama administration to reform US corporate taxation policy to bring them further into line with their global counterparts in the technology sector.
While Silicon Valley is as strong as ever and in light of the recent Facebook valuation, and 15 of the world's top 20 universities situated there, it's easy to be dismissed as scaremongering to write down the US technology industry. But actually it looks stronger than it really is as a historical relic of its former strength. In reality it is under threat from the emerging economies who know that they are increasingly competitive in the industry, and that development will not be lost on US policymakers amid their ongoing economic woes.

If they decide to go ahead and yield to pressure from the technological corporate body then that could be very bad news for Ireland.

At the moment of course, anything we can get is good - but we shouldn't lose sight of our long term goals or ignore an indigenous stimulus altogether.

We seemed to have learnt absolutely NOTHING in this country over the last few years. We should not be this exposed by another countries foreign policies. If Intel or any other multinational should decide to up sticks, we should have our national employment numbers sufficiently diversified so that this doesn't torpedo, or be perceived as possibly torpedoing our economy. No business stays in the same place forever and why on earth we act like a 5 year old child trying to hide under the mammy's dress that is Intel, is something that I'll never understand as an Irish person. There is a hell of a lot more going on in this country than what goes on up in Intel or any of the MNC's and we should get a grip of ourselves in that regard!

later12

HellFireClub wrote: »

We should not be this exposed by another countries foreign policies.

We have to be, at least for now - that is the global reality. Even an indigenous industry base must ultimately be geared at export, and that involves a global integration in itself.

There is a hell of a lot more going on in this country than what goes on up in Intel or any of the MNC's

Where? They are leading the growth, and that's a pretty good start.

HellFireClub

later10 wrote: »

We have to be, at least for now - that is the global reality. Even an indigenous industry base must ultimately be geared at export, and that involves a global integration in itself.

Where? They are leading the growth, and that's a pretty good start.

Growth without job creation is not real growth at all. We are making another huge mistake in this economy relying on one particular type of employer to carry growth, just like we did with the property market in the past. We should be fostering the creation of Irish indigenious jobs, apparently we are the best educated people on earth, we should be keeping our emmigrants here by supporting R&D, validation and then manufacturing jobs, most of the MNC's that operate here create very low skill jobs, I've worked in some of these place and the jobs they create could be done my monkeys. I've no issue with any of these employers but the government have been pushing this urban myth for years that the MNC's that operate have brought high skill jobs, nothing could be further from the truth and you'd need to have worked in some of these places to understand that...

We need to stop throwing money at MNC's and start creating our own jobs, there is no point in spending 10-20K on college students a year for 4 years to export them when they are qualified, that is just insanity and that is what we are doing.

ardmacha

We need to stop throwing money at MNC's and start creating our own jobs,

Agreed. But how.

there is no point in spending 10-20K on college students a year for 4 years to export them when they are qualified, that is just insanity and that is what we are doing.

Do you suggest that we export less qualified people and have them become cleaners and labourers?

nizo888

100 voluntary redundancies just annouced in the old fab, IFO.

newmug

nizo888 wrote: »

100 voluntary redundancies just annouced in the old fab, IFO.

Did you get a phonecall? It wasnt on the news or anything.

The_Thing

Are any of Intel's "Sandy Bridge" range of processors being produced in Leixlip?

It seems there is a bit of a problem with them.

lmimmfn

The_Thing wrote: »

Are any of Intel's "Sandy Bridge" range of processors being produced in Leixlip?

It seems there is a bit of a problem with them.

as far as i know none of the new stuff is done in Leixlip. Either way its a design flaw rather than a manufacturing flaw, and tbh i dont even think its a Sata2 issue, its probably more serious but for PR they make it less important.

Whippo

As it stands at the moment within Intel, there are a number of options for IFO employees.... A.. Apply for a new job in F24 via interview, but sign up to transferring to. USA/Israel/China for up to two years.. B.. Take voluntary redundancy.. C.. Sit on the fence until they announce an Involuntary redundancy... Now with saying all that, Intel have agreed to upskill employees that do not meet the level 6 national qualification..

nizo888

The_Thing wrote: »

Are any of Intel's "Sandy Bridge" range of processors being produced in Leixlip?

No.

nizo888

newmug wrote: »

Did you get a phonecall? It wasnt on the news or anything.

It seems to have stayed off the radar in the national media. Industry sources informed me. Tough few weeks ahead for the IFO employees who have not secured a job in F24.

newmug

nizo888 wrote: »

It seems to have stayed off the radar in the national media. Industry sources informed me. Tough few weeks ahead for the IFO employees who have not secured a job in F24.

Nobody has secured a job in F24 for this round yet, the vacancies only went up today.