Mr. Barry O'Leary:

We regularly meet the various county managers and their teams, as well as politicians, to discuss what can be done. The key challenge is what a region will do to make itself more attractive than another region. It could be related to road infrastructure and access. Some county managers and their county councils have been very good at promoting a more competitive offering in terms of capital contributions or development levies and infrastructure, as well as education. We tend to take the view that because of the motorway network, one does not talk about individual counties. Let me give an example. On Friday, 6 September I was in Carlow where Merck now employs almost 500 people and Unum now employs 100. One can locate in areas with facilities within a 45 minute commute; that is part of the reason we have that infrastructure. While facilities may not be located in an individual county, they are available within a reasonable commute.