Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have a location in Austin, Texas, and hopefully there will be an Ireland House there. As I noted in the Dáil earlier, some policies were not an option for us. People argued that austerity was a disaster and that we should have been spending money but given that we were already spending 50% more than we were taking in, we did not have the option of throwing a wall of money at unemployment. We had to box smart and roll up our sleeves to transform areas. Exports have driven this transformation and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has played a significant role in this regard. It makes a remarkable difference when a strong ambassador is able to co-ordinate these efforts because in addition to the ground hurling that the IDA and Enterprise Ireland practise, there are opportunities to use embassies to meet potential clients and develop networks.

The action plan contains measures on cultural tourism and creative industries. The Craft Council will be driving an initiative in the year of design, which is 2015. There is awareness of the potential for these less recognised sectors. There is also great potential for the fishing industry. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is probably the best Minister we can get to develop this potential because he understands the fishing industry.

We publish the microfinance information on a quarterly basis. I think approximately €2.5 million has already been invested. We are glad the money is available because it supports a significant number of jobs. We are not planning individual changes because the process is relatively simple and there are not many strings attached to it.