A survey of members of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland has found that 90% of respondents plan to increase or maintain employment numbers in Ireland over the next year.
Almost half said they plan to increase employee numbers in the next 12 months, while 70% said their corporate headquarters plan to invest further in Ireland over the next five years.
"This really is a positive story," said American Chamber of Commerce Ireland CEO Paul Sweetman. "What we're seeing from the surveys are companies are continuing to invest, they're continuing to recruit and they see Ireland as an attractive location."
However the survey also highlighted a number of concerns that US companies have.
A third of respondents said cost competitiveness is the most important challenge for Ireland to overcome for investment and expansion, followed by housing which was cited by 27% of those surveyed.
Over half of respondents said Ireland's current energy infrastructure and security of supply is a competitive disadvantage relative to other locations.
"The immediate challenges are cost competitiveness, housing and energy infrastructure," said Mr Sweetman. "[Over] the five year horizon the greatest risks there are housing and public infrastructure constraints.
"Ireland is addressing these issues when we look at the work of the Accelerating Infrastructure Task Force, the billions of euro of investing for infrastructure policy changes that are taking place.
"These are having an impact on sentiment - it is a good start, but it is a start. There is more work to be done."
Over a third said greater EU competitiveness and productivity would be the most successful outcome of Ireland's EU Presidency for their business.
Despite their concerns the majority of US multinationals are planning on investing in Ireland in the next few years.
Two-thirds said they plan to increase investment in AI, automation and data analytics initiatives in the next 12 months, while 51% plan to invest in employee upskilling.
There continues to be a broadly positive view of Ireland as an investment location, too.
"95% of companies say that, if they had the chance, they would make their initial investment in Ireland again," said Mr Sweetman. "Seven out of 10 already have plans over the coming five years to invest in Ireland."
The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland released the survey as it prepares to celebrate the 250th US Independence Day at a an event in Dublin today, which will addressed by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.
Figures from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland show that 1,002 US-owned companies have operations in Ireland, while they employ 245,000 people.
