The FDI figures for 2009 make for interesting reading:

http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/economy/current/fdi.pdf

We’re still doing pretty good on the Inward front, with nearly €170bn “into” Ireland last year; the Netherlands seems to be the largest source for us with nearly €38bn; however the CSO seems to think this is US-originated investment coming through Holland for tax reasons.

On the Outward side, we seem to be in an even stronger position with €190bn, a jump of €70bn; this large jump seems to be down to the corporate HQs of interational businesses re-locating to Ireland and thus regional investment being channelled through here.

A funny business indeed.