John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I visited there recently and that is my understanding. As I acknowledge there is a one China policy, I am not touching on policy issues. Funding for an office in Taipei was withdrawn, perhaps owing to economic conditions, but now that we are looking at countries to support the export potential of our companies, we should consider having a presence in Taipei which has a population of 23 million through the three offices on mainland China. Of the European Union member states,16, not including Ireland, are represented through an office supported by the European Union. It is strange that trade agreements are being reached between Taiwan and these 16 countries through that European Union office in which we have no representative. I would like to see this change and believe the job could be done effectively by Enterprise Ireland's officials on mainland China in connection with property rights and economic agreements between Taiwan and China. I ask Mr. Ryan to look at this issue.

Enterprise Ireland has a staff of 742.