Mr. Brian Cotter:

Regarding the issue of re-shoring, our report emphasises the fact that the way US companies do business and drive their export platforms is through foreign direct investment. Europe will still remain a very significant part of business for US companies. For the United States, Europe represents over 50% of world economic activity. It is a strong market place and US companies will still want to do business here for the foreseeable future. The last two years have seen the strongest investment flow to Ireland on record, based on the fact that not only do we have a very good business proposition but also great experience built up within the operations and great talent, in terms of leadership. Those people are at the most senior level within their organisations, which provides us with great opportunities. We will always have to respond to competitive challenges and there is no doubt that the mid-to-lower end of manufacturing and the energy-rich industries in the US will become more competitive over the next decade, mainly because of changes in the labour market and lower energy prices in the US. We must be sensitive to that and address it. It is interesting that in many of our member companies, one hears commentary around skills gaps in the United States, which still exist. That is critical and will play to our advantage if we can address it. Ireland is often mentioned in the same breath as Singapore. Ireland is to Europe what Singapore is to Asia and we must capitalise on that and build on the investment that has come in.