The vast majority of US multinationals with operations here are still positive about Ireland as a place for investment and growth, despite growing domestic and international challenges.

That is according to a new survey by The American Chamber of Commerce, released to coincided with its Global Business Conference which took place today.

The survey found that nine out of ten US multinationals continued to have a positive view of Ireland as a place for investment for growth.

Meanwhile 95% said that, if they were deciding on a location for their first European investment today, Ireland would win out.

“I think we see a consistent trend of positivity in Ireland because of the competitive advantages that we have and have had for many years,” said Paul Sweetman, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.

The survey found that 85% of US firms had increased or maintained employee numbers in Ireland in the past year – with 88% predicting a similar trend in the coming 12 months.

However the survey also identified some of the challenges facing those firms – with the majority saying they currently had skills gaps in their Irish workforce.

Access to talent was also found to be the biggest risk to investment in Ireland in the coming years, with almost a quarter of firms citing it as a top risk.

Skills shortages have been cited as a challenge for US multinationals in previous American Chamber surveys, and Mr Sweetman said this is in large part down to Ireland’s success in consistently attracting investment over recent years.

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“We look at the figures of people employed by US multinationals in Ireland – it’s 245,000 people now, that’s up from 210,000 a year,” he said. “So this is a story of growth. It’s a story of companies wanting to do more.

“So we have to stay ever vigilant of the skills availability and make sure that we look at investing in homegrown talent and also encouraging talent from abroad,” he said.

Another top concern for businesses is the shortage of housing, and Mr Sweetman said the upside of this was that Ireland was able to address these issues to maintain competitiveness.

“When the dust settles, improving our own competitive advantages will be the single most important issue that impacts our long-term economic growth,” he said. “They’re challenges of success and ones we have full control over.”

However more global issues – including the potential disruption caused by changes to tax policy, tariffs or trading relationships – were also top concerns identified by businesses.

Mr Sweetman said this underlined the need for Ireland to focus on addressing the shortcomings it had control over.

“What we’ve seen in our conversations with companies, from our surveys, from engagements with networks, is that it’s the national competitiveness agenda that is of concern and will affect their growth,” he said.

“Being positive about this, is that the competitiveness agenda is cutting through. The work of the Accelerating Infrastructure Task Force, Government plans, billions in extra infrastructure spending,” he stated.

“Because of these activities, the view of Ireland as a destination to invest in has improved over the last months,” he added.