Industrial Development Agency (IDA Ireland) () is the agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland. The agency was founded in 1949 as the Industrial Development Authority and placed on a statutory footing a year later. In 1969 it became a non-commercial autonomous state-sponsored body. Today it is a semi-state body that plays an important role in Ireland's relationship with foreign investors, with multinationals accounting for 10.2% of employment and 66% of Irish exports. The agency partners with investors to help them to begin or expand their operations in the Irish market. It provides funding support to research and development projects, and has a number of direct support mechanisms, including employment and training grants. History In the years following World War II, Ireland began moving towards a more open economic model, away from the old model characterised by import substitution industrialisation. As part of this wider push, the Minister for Industry and Commerce at the time, Daniel Morrissey, proposed the creation of a body to advise the government on industrial policy. The Industrial Development Authority was created to fill this role in 1949. Throughout the 1950s, the IDA established its vision of 'industrialisation by invitation,' one which initiated the low corporation-tax system that remains in place in Ireland today. According to an article in a U.S. law journal in 1984, the IDA is 'probably the most powerful governmental agency in Ireland,' as it 'acts as both coordinator and lobbyist for all matters relating to manufacturing and service industries as well as the industrial infrastructure.' IDA Ireland has a large global network of branches/offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Governance and funding While IDA Ireland gets its funding from the Irish State (with costs circa €48m in 2017), as an autonomous non-commercial state-sponsored body, it maintains its own independent board and governance. IDA Ireland is authorised to issue grants and financial incentives to firms coming to Ireland (paying out €91 million in 2017). Successes The IDA has been successful in attracting multinationals to Ireland over decades. As of 2018, foreign multinationals pay 80% of all Irish corporate taxes, directly employing 25% of the Irish labour-force, and are responsible for 57% of the non-farm economic value-add in Ireland (40% of value-add in Irish services and 80% of value-add in Irish manufacturing). They comprise 14 of Ireland's top 20 firms (including tax inversions). Key "selling