BUSINESS BRIEFS ALMOST 28MILLION PASSENGERS USED DUBLIN AIRPORT IN 2016 Passengers numbers at Dublin Airport reached an all-time high last year with a record 27.9 million passengers. The impressive figures sees an increase of 11% in comparison with the previous year, more than four times the population of Ireland. Dublin Airport experienced significant growth across both its short-haul and long-haul networks - and traffic performance exceeded the record set in 2015 by over 2.8 million passengers. Managing Director at Dublin Airport, Vincent Harrison commented that the airport had a very strong performance
EGYPTIAN MARKET REOPENS TO IRISH BEEF Irish and Egyptian authorities have reached an agreement to reopen the market in the North African country to Irish beef for the first time in more than 16 years. Under the terms of the deal, five Irish plants are approved to begin beef exports to Egypt, once necessary arrangements are in place. Before Egypt banned Irish beef exports in November 2000 over BSE fears, the country had been one of the largest markets for the product. Egypt is now the largest consumer market in the Middle East and North Africa with around 95 million consumers. It is the third biggest destination for Irish agri-food exports (which
€38BN CONTRIBUTED TO ECONOMY BY PHYSICS-BASED INDUSTRY Industry based on physics contributes €38bn a year to the Irish economy, a new report from the Institute of Physics has claimed. However, the organisation says if Ireland is to sustain this work and continue to build its physics based industries, there needs to be strong support for basic research. The study, carried out by the UK based Centre for Economic and Business Research, examined the period of 2011-2014 to see what contribution physics based industries including electrical component manufacturing, extraction of oil and gas and computer service make here. It found they
12
in 2016 with double digit growth across their largest market segments and gained new passengers and added additional routes. Almost 24.3 million passengers took short-haul flights to and from Dublin - an increase of 11% on an annual basis while long-haul passenger numbers increased by 12% from the previous year to more than 3.6 million. According to Mr Harrison, additional connectivity at the airport has also helped to boost business between Ireland and its trading partners. 2016 was the 6th consecutive year of traffic growth and since Terminal 2 opened in 2010, annual traffic through the airport has increased by 9.5 million passengers.
were almost exclusively dairy and seafood) to Africa, with exports of €45 million in 2015. This latest deal comes following the opening of the Egyptian market to live Irish cattle in February 2016. It also includes approval for beef offal and a limited approval for particular types of sheep-meat products. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said the deal is an example of achieving market access goals outlined in the Food Wise 2025 strategy. The Department of Agriculture’s search for new 3rd country markets has taken on an additional urgency given the UK’s upcoming exit from the EU. The Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) welcomed the deal but noted that announcing new export opportunities is pointless unless primary beef producers can see a resultant improvement in their cattle prices.
generated €49bn in turnover in 2013 alone, equivalent to 14% of the overall turnover in the business economy. 287,000 people are employed in the sectors, representing nearly 9% of total employment, which is greater than both the financial and construction sectors. In 2014 the industries accounted for just under 83% of all external research and development spending, and each employee accounts for around €138,000 a year in added value to the economy. Chairperson of the Institute, Dr Mark Lang, also said that while Ireland is a strong physics nation, it must strongly support basic research if that is to continue. The report has been welcomed by Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan, who said more must be done to ensure a greater number of schools offer physics at Leaving Cert.