Mr. Tom Hayes:

On the hand-holding exercise, exports really are where Ireland must go over the next number of years. There is no question about this as our domestic economy still is pretty flat. Consequently, to expand companies must develop exports. Enterprise Ireland has an entire suite and range of supports for companies that wish to export. It has 28 offices around the world, which provide coverage to more than 60 countries. Within the past few weeks, we had 2,500 meetings for our client companies with the people we brought back from overseas. They now are in the process of working through their export plans, which will include business accelerators. In the case of companies seeking to get into markets that are complex and difficult, we will set them up with business accelerators.

These are usually people who have a lot of experience of doing business in Spain, Portugal, Germany or whatever country it might be because the culture is different. These people know the market and can make the necessary introductions on their behalf.