Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is proposed to maintain the target to deliver 50% of IDA investment to centres outside Dublin and Cork. In 2013, it was 30% and the IDA states in its end of year report that it is a challenge to reach that 50% figure. In 2013, 64% of the visits by incoming client companies were to Dublin and to Cork. Will we reach the 50% target figure in 2014 or is it just a notional figure?

In 2012, the last year for which we have figures, €89.9 million was paid out to client companies.

Is the Minister satisfied with the audit procedures associated with that level of expenditure? Are there difficulties with how that money is spent by any of the client companies to which it is paid? When I studied the documentation, I could not find out how much was paid to client companies of the county enterprise boards in 2012. That figure might be in the documentation somewhere. I have seen the Enterprise Ireland figure, but I want to get a figure for the county enterprise boards.

I have two final questions on subhead A5. How much did IDA Ireland pay in consultancy fees in 2012 and 2013? What is IDA Ireland's active presence or footprint, in terms of staffing, in the BRIC countries? I refer particularly to China and India, where a considerable level of industrial expansion is under way at present. Is the Minister satisfied with that presence? He mentioned that he has identified 155 investment projects for 2014. How many of them will come from the BRIC countries, as opposed to the traditional inward investment markets? Has a target been set in that regard?