American Chamber chief executive Mark Redmond and president Catherine Duffy with guest speaker Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe at the chamber's Independence Day lunch in Dublin. Photograph: Conor McCabeA large proportion of American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland members have identified housing as the “most important challenge” for the Irish economy when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment and talent from abroad.
Over 95 per cent said they are satisfied that Ireland’s talented workforce is currently meeting the skills requirements for their organisation, the same proportion of AmCham members who said they have a positive view of Ireland as an investment or growth location. Meanwhile, 100 per cent of survey respondents said maintaining cost competitiveness is important to maintaining investment and employment, with 50 per cent saying it was “very important” and almost 38 per cent “extremely important”.
“Ireland is a key and trusted partner of the United States in ensuring critical supply chains are maintained, Ireland is the ninth biggest source of inward investment for the US, and Ireland is the only English-speaking, common law gateway to the European Union for US business,” said Ms Duffy, who is general manager of Northern Trust in Limerick.