Ireland has a strong reputation for internationally traded services - an umbrella term for consultancy companies selling professional services across a broad and varied range of sectors. The consultancy services offered range from treasury management to education, the development of smaller and medium sized enterprises and environmental services. The areas where Irish consultants offer particular expertise include digital media; ebusiness; health services and information technology. Most of the companies in Ireland providing these services are relatively small in size, and they usually supplement their resources and high standards of professionalism with rosters of experts working on a contract basis.

The sector has a considerable competitive advantage over other European countries, because Irish consultants are English speaking and come from a neutral country with a non-colonial past. Another major advantage is the flexibility that Irish consultants can offer.

In the developed world, companies exporting their services work primarily in the UK and other European countries. A large number of companies are selling their expertise throughout the developing world, under the auspices of programmes funded by such institutions as the World Bank; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the United Nations and the European Union’s external aid programmes.

Irish companies have a particularly good reputation in private sector development. Many developing countries regard Irish consultants as being particularly well placed to help them replicate Ireland’s success in moving forward a highly successful and sophisticated economy that operates on a global scale.