Regional Economy
The regional economy of the South-East is based primarily on agriculture, manufacturing and services, tourism, fishing and aquaculture. The agriculture and food sector accounts for a significant proportion of output and employment, with the region having a higher than average reliance on this sector.
Industry
Like Ireland as a whole, a high proportion of manufacturing industry in the South-East is foreign owned. Overseas industry, which directly employs over 11,000 people in more than 70 enterprises in the region, is concentrated mainly in electronics and precision engineering, pharmaceuticals and healthcare and in international traded services. The principal large companies in the South-East include: Braun Ireland Ltd., Lapple Ireland Ltd., Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Abbot Laboratories (Ireland), Boston Scientific, Clonmel Healthcare, AOL Bertlesman, Bausch & Lomb, Honeywell International Ltd., Hasbro Ltd., Garrett Engine Boosting Systems, IVAX, Glaxo Smithkline, Servier, Genzyme, Lancaster Laboratories, Cordis, Teva, Waters Technologies, Unum, Coca Cola, ABS Pumps, Equifax Database Company, Honeywell, Alza Ireland Ltd., Lake Region Manufacturing Company and Sola ADC Lenses.
The South-East Region is rapidly emerging as a preferred location outside Dublin for the financial services industry. A cluster of financial services companies is developing with a significant presence in Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford. These include such companies as BISYS Hedge Fund Services and Sun Life Financial (Waterford), Deutsche International (Ireland) Limited and State Street (Kilkenny) and PFPC (Wexford).
With a good quality of transport and other economic infrastructure, three Third-level Education Institutes, a young and highly educated labour force, a network of Industrial and Technology Parks available regionwide, the South-East is an attractive region for investment. The region can offer potential investors, both foreign and indigenous, an attractive range of financial and other supports and the benefits of the low Irish corporation taxation regime. The national promotion and support agency for overseas industry is the Industrial Development Agency, and the support agency for indigenous industry is Enterprise Ireland.
In addition, local development and micro-enterprises are supported by a range of agencies, including City/County Enterprise Boards, City/County Development Boards, LEADER and Area Partnership Companies.
Tourism
Tourism continues to be a high growth sector with significant business emerging from the region’s principal markets – Great Britain, the United States and mainland Europe. With good access infrastructure, a wealth of visitor attractions, a high quality environment and a wide range of affordable activities (golf, equestrian, angling, walking, cycling etc.), the South-East is one of Ireland’s most attractive tourist regions. The key issues for Irish tourism have been highlighted as: ‘quality and standards’ and ‘competitiveness and value for money’. In addition, key issues for tourism in the South-East are access, marketing and promotion and an emphasis on ‘corridor tourism’.
Tourism revenue in the South-East stands at €500.4m. Domestic tourism in the region remains strong and generated over 1m visitors during 2006 compared with 962,000 overseas visitors. It is a high growth sector with significant additional business emerging from the region's principal markets - Great Britain, United States and mainland Europe. With good access infrastructure, a wealth of visitor attractions, a high quality environment and a wide range of affordable activities (golf, equestrian, angling, walking, cycling etc.), the South-East is one of Ireland's most attractive tourist regions. Fáilte Ireland - The Irish Tourist Board promotes and supports the development of tourism in Ireland and the its regional office, Fáilte Ireland-South-East does likewise in the region.
Top visitor attractions in the South-East include: County Wexford
County Carlow
Altamont Gardens County Kilkenny
Kilkenny Castle, St. Canice's Cathedral, Jerpoint Abbey, Dunmore Cave County Tipperary
Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Swiss Cottage, Mitchelstown Cave, Ormonde Castle County Waterford
Waterford Treasures, Reginald's Tower 'Dunbrody' Replica Famin Ship, National Heritage Park, Hook Head Lighthouse,
National Agricultural Museum, Tintern Abbey
An Information Age Region
The South-East Regional Authority is proactive in terms of ensuring that the region avails of all opportunities to advance the information society. The Authority has developed an Integrated Regional Information Society Strategy and Action Plan which is currently in its implementation phase with a number of projects and initiatives being promoted. The ‘SEISS’ strategy was the catalyst for the ‘SERPANT’ project which represented a unique exercise in inter-authority and intra-regional co-operation and partnership to provide essential public infrastructure in the form of the construction of optic-fibre broadband telecommunications metropolitan area networks in the region’s six principal cities and towns - Waterford City, Kilkenny City and the towns of Carlow, Clonmel, Wexford and Dungarvan. Metropolitan Area Networks have also been constructed in Cahir, Cashel, Tipperary, Carrick-on-Suir and Thomastown. The Broadband network installed in the region is state of the art and has enhanced the attractiveness of the South-East both for indigenous and foreign-owned enterprises and for the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment.
The Authority manages the building of these broadband networks on behalf of its constituent local authorities and in association with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. For national information see the website of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources at www.dcenr.gov.ie .
