Government Seeks 2012 Olympics Business For Irish Firms

Business & Finance - Investment

Thursday, 07 October 2010 10:42

Written by Noel Cotter

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD, was in London today pitching for deals for Irish firms for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Already, Irish firms have landed €200 million worth of contracts with the Olympic Development Authority (ODA).

Minister O’Keeffe met building contractors P. Elliott, John Sisk & Son and Jones Engineering, as well as other sub-suppliers, during a tour of construction sites and facilities for the Games.

At peak times, it is estimated that 10pc of the teams on site have Irish passports.

The ODA updated Minister O’Keeffe on preparation for the Games in a detailed presentation and briefed him on opportunities for firms to land new contracts.

Minister O’Keeffe said Irish firms had landed lucrative contracts for the Games and urged others to pitch for business opportunities from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) - the group charged with the delivery of the Games.

‘The deals landed so far have mainly been on the construction side but I would urge Irish firms to pitch for the thousands of contracts that can still be won in areas such as security, catering, mobile buildings, waste management and venue fit-out,’ said Minister O'Keeffe.