Cork identified as ‘engineering powerhouse’
Ireland’s engineering economy employs nearly a third of the country’s workforce, according to a new joint report.
Published on Monday by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Irish Academy of Engineering, it is the first comprehensive place-based analysis of the engineering economy in the Republic of Ireland.
It found that engineering employs 31% of Ireland’s workforce with Cork city and county both identified as ‘Engineering Powerhouses’.
Engineering Economy & Place, Ireland adapts a methodology used by the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK and uses datasets including the last available census in 2022. Funded by InterTradeIreland, it is underpinned by analysis from Metro Dynamics.
The analysis shows that while engineering employment varies across Ireland, engineering is a large part of the employment base everywhere, accounting for 31% of total employment in 2022. Over 725,000 people work in engineering related industries and occupations. This is broken down into 513,000 in engineering occupations and 212,000 who are non-engineering staff (eg. HR, legal & PR), within engineering firms. Engineering expertise permeates all sectors of Ireland’s economy, with an estimated 40% of those employed in engineering occupations in Ireland, working in companies outside of the engineering sector.
It also demonstrates engineering’s significant role in job creation. From 2011 to 2022, engineering employment grew by 44%, compared to a 29% increase in total employment in Ireland, adding more than 200,000 jobs and increasing engineering’s share of total employment. These are high value jobs, with an average salary of nearly €60,000, 14% higher than the national average. Engineering in Ireland is a highly R&D intensive sector, with over one fifth of those employed in the engineering economy in a role focused on research, develop or evaluate activities.
Mapping the engineering economy
The report found that engineering plays a distinct role and exhibits different features in each of the 31 administrative counties across the country. Using a variety of indicators including volume, value, local significance, industrial specialism and R&D intensity, the counties have been grouped into five categories.
Both Cork city and Cork county have been group into the ‘Engineering Powerhouse’ category along with Kildare, Meath and Limerick. For this category, mean annual earnings are €52,500; 183,000 employees and 10,400 businesses.
This category covers well established, high performing engineering economies with high value and high local significance. Outside Dublin, they are the largest in volume and have the next highest level of value and R&D intensity. They fall into two distinct groups, with Kildare and Meath tied to the tech heavyweights of Dublin, while Cork and Limerick have similar features. They are strong across four broad industrial areas: tech, manufacturing, construction and utilities.
Each county also has its own distinct advantages: Meath is cited as having a strong agritech sector. It cites Cork as having a large and diversified industrial base with strengths in biopharma, medtech, ICT and advanced manufacturing.
EEP Ireland Dashboard
In addition to this report, Metro Dynamics has created a dashboard of all the data which will be searchable by type of engineering activity and location. This should provide policymakers with a starting point to understand the distribution of engineering across Ireland and inform decisions that drive long-term growth and sustainability.
Reaction
Sean Finlay FIAE, President of the Irish Academy of Engineering, said: “There has long been a consensus in Ireland that engineering is integral to its economy. Developing and deploying the engineering economy and place approach has allowed us to not only demonstrate that engineering plays a far greater role in Ireland’s economy than captured by more traditional analyses; but also takes a much more granular view of the role of engineering in the place-specific contexts of the 31 administrative counties.
“Engineering expertise is spread across all sectors of Ireland’s economy, far beyond traditionally defined engineering industries. The data shows that engineering in Ireland is a highly R&D intensive activity, driving innovation and value creation with significant growth in employment, particularly in R&D intensive activities and employment in tech-related fields.
“The findings in the report and dashboard will help places, policymakers and engineering businesses to develop employment and their economy and leverage engineering's true potential,” he said.
Sir John Lazar CBE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “We created the Engineering, Economy and Place framework because traditional analyses struggled to account for the complexity of engineering and its contribution to our modern economy. It combines indicators that look at the engineering economy, engineering enterprise and place economics, to create a typology to describe the local and national role of engineering.”
Jack Chambers TD, Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, said: “The Engineering Economy and Place - Ireland report launched today by the Academies will help decision makers better understand our nation's engineering strengths and how best to support the sector to meet our shared goals.
“My department recently published Ireland's Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. This clearly demonstrates that timely and efficient infrastructure development is essential to meeting the needs of our growing population, supporting economic competitiveness, and delivering the essential public services our people and communities need.
“Engineering, in the many forms it takes, from tangible assets like roads and rail, to software and digitalisation, is central to addressing these challenges in the months, years and decades ahead.”