Talent & skills
Ireland is an attractive location for talent, but founders face tough competition across sectors as demand for skilled professionals is high. Access to both domestic and international talent is essential for founders to keep their enterprises at the cutting edge of innovation and build products that meet real-world market needs.
Founders also need the capacity to continuously develop their skills and maintain their wellbeing, as both are critical to business success and to sustaining a diverse future pipeline of entrepreneurs.
Ireland’s innovation ecosystem, including mentorship, accelerator programmes, executive education, and peer learning communities, supports founders in building leadership, strategic, and technical capabilities. Ibec continues to advocate for rapid delivery of infrastructure, including housing, energy, and transport, as a central part of attracting and retaining talent.
Together, these supports ensure a sustainable and resilient entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ireland.
Key recommendations:
Allocate €125 million from the National Training Fund (NTF) surplus to rapidly expand Skillnet Business Networks, meeting verified industry demand for fast-paced digital, AI, and green transition upskilling.
Leverage the Skillnet model across diverse regional and enterprise sectors, supporting the resilience of industry and preparing for digital and green transition.
Skillnet Ireland’s funding enables the Business Networks to collaborate in identifying existing and future skills needs. Without additional investment, Networks will be forced to reduce subsidies to companies and not fully meet training demand at a time when upskilling is most critical.
Provide an additional €15 million from the National Training Fund to meet demand and expand reach of existing networks.
Provide a higher percentage of state support to Business Networks to maintain affordability for companies.
Implement a 'use it or lose it' rule and trigger a temporary suspension of the levy when the surplus cap is reached to allow direct employer investment.
Support Ibec’s proposed €10,000 AI grant for SMEs, securing targeted mentoring and peer networks to ensure women and underrepresented entrepreneurs can bridge the digital divide.
Embed wellbeing and financial planning supports into enterprise programmes through local enterprise offices, Enterprise Ireland, and private partnerships.
Mitigate personal financial risk for early-stage founders by introducing robust liability protections, state-backed guarantees, and leveraging the proposed tax-exempt Savings and Investment Accounts to unlock stable domestic seed capital.
Ensure Ireland remains a global hub for high-impact innovation by keeping the Critical Skills Occupation List up to date to enable founders to access top specialist overseas talent, in emerging fields like AI.
Establish a bi-annual review process for the Critical Skills List, led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Create an “Emerging Talent” category within the Critical Skills framework, with flexible criteria to accommodate fast-evolving roles.
Introduce a streamlined visa and relocation support programme for overseas hires in critical innovation roles, including housing.
Protect competitiveness in hiring by indexing income tax bands and credits above wage growth, including a €3,000 increase in the top entry point to insulate skilled talent from inflation.