Mr. Frank Ryan:

The visit of Vice President Xi Jinping changed everything in regard to China. It is fair to say that prior to that visit not many Chinese people knew where Ireland was. We have to deal with reality as well in EI. It is probably one of the biggest coups the country has brought off in recent times. He started out in the US and then travelled to Ireland and it was an enormous coup. Many of our European partners would only have loved to have had that opportunity. We had him in Ireland for three to four days, which gave us an enormous opportunity. The press coverage of the visit in China was phenomenal. There is a good chance if one mentions Ireland in China now, people know what one is talking about. That is the degree of the step forward that has happened. It is difficult for us in China because, traditionally, the Irish did not emigrate to that part of the world. The Irish diaspora is not strong in China and, therefore, that recognition of such a visit is important to us.

We are closely working with our colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to which we report on trade matters, and that is in great evidence in the context of the work of the export trade council, to which we also report. Ambassador Declan Kelleher is Ireland's lead person in China. He will shortly be replaced by Ambassador Paul Kavanagh from Paris. There is an integrated plan for the top 25 countries in the world involving all the agencies, which is co-ordinated by the Departments of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Foreign Affairs and Trade and, therefore, the left hand knows exactly what the right hand is doing. There are commitments and the ambassador is the lead person in overseeing and bringing that team together. That is working increasingly well. It is of huge benefit to our companies to help them to be introduced to the markets at the level of an ambassador, as it gives them increased credibility.