Outlook for tech sector remains positive, says Taoiseach

Olivia Kelleher

The medium-to-long term outlook for the tech sector in Ireland remains positive, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, even if there is currently some “retrenching” and “downsizing” in the sector.

Speaking on Thursday during a visit to the Apple plant in Hollyhill, Co Cork, Mr Varadkar said the tech sector grew very rapidly during the Covid pandemic.

“It is now retrenching a bit. Downsizing by about five or fifteen percent and I think that is still ongoing. But I am convinced in the medium to long term that we are going to see a lot more tech jobs in Ireland.

"Why do I think that? Because the future is digital, the future is artificial intelligence, the future is virtual reality, the future is robotics. There is only going to be more of that in the medium-to-long term.

"When I visit schools, and I talk to young people, I always encourage them to continue to study science, technology, engineering and maths precisely for that reason, because this is going to be a growth sector in the medium-to-long term," the Taoiseach said.

Mr Varadkar was asked about s which could be given to laid off tech workers given that we are approaching the budget this year with a surplus, to which he said the Government is monitoring the situation and planned to provide every possible, whilst calling on companies who are downsizing to treat their employees fairly.

Exit packages

"Workers who get laid off are entitled to redundancy payments from their employer. What I am saying to companies that are downsizing, that are still profitable, that the basic redundancy of two weeks per year of service isn’t enough.

"We expect companies that are profitable, not withstanding the fact that they are downsizing, to offer much better exit packages for their employees and in fairness most of them are doing that.

"Then Government steps in, and we provide assistance to people in of job search, helping them to find other jobs and thankfully there are lots of job opportunities in Ireland as we have full employment.

"Some people who might be losing their job might want to set up their own business, so we have the back to enterprise allowance, some people want to go back to education, so we have the Susi grants for that and some people for a short period of time may need to claim jobseekers.

"So we have all that in place. There is a good safety net there but one I would like to make better in the years ahead."

Mr Varadkar said he was delighted to have the opportunity to visit Apple in Cork, particularly as it was announcing its plan to build a new office building onsite.

"We are delighted with the chance to visit Apple again. Apple is one of the biggest employers in the country, a major taxpayer and is also making a big investment here in Hollyhill in Cork.

"The new office building which will be open in about two years time will be able to accommodate 1,300 staff and it does show the company is very committed to Cork and to Ireland, and of particular significance it does show that there will be more jobs in the tech sector in the medium to long term."

Taxation

The Taoiseach was asked if he planned to discuss the Apple tax case with management in Cork. The case is entering its final chapter with the decision on the European Commission's appeal on the case due in the coming months.

The Court of Justice of the European Union's ruling will follow the 2020 decision of the EU’s General Court, which overturned the Commission’s 2016 finding that Apple had underpaid €13.1 billion in tax due to Ireland between 2003 and 2014.

Mr Varadkar said he did not have any plan to discuss the forthcoming ruling with Apple management onsite.

"We don’t plan to discuss it. It is a matter before the European Court of Justice. We would expect a decision in a matter of months. Both Apple and the Government are on the same side here. We think the European Commission has made an error.

"We have won the first part of the case. And we expect to win the appeal to. Bear in mind what this is about. This is about an allegation that twenty years or so ago there was a special arrangement between the Irish Government and one particular company that wasn’t available to other companies. That is not true, that did not happen.

"Truth and facts are on our side. And the European Court has already ruled in our favour and,we expect that we will win the appeal as well."

Mr Varadkar was ed on the visit to the Apple plant on the northside of Cork city by Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment Simon Coveney and Cork North Central TD Colm Burke.

Mr Coveney was keen to emphasise that Ireland "is at full employment at the moment".

"There have of course been some high profile layoffs in and by tech companies this year. From our experience, those people have found employment very quickly elsewhere because they are highly skilled people.

"If there are challenges for Ireland the Government and our agencies are there to help to work with the companies and the individuals concerned to re skill if they want to do that, to go back to education if they want to do that. In most cases they will be sought after by other companies.

"Let us not forget that in the first six months of this year we saw IDA companies announce about 12,000 extra jobs in Ireland. So yes we have seen some reductions (in the tech sector) but we have also seen growth," Mr Coveney said.