Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The first objective of the Government is to create an environment where business can grow, but the Government also creates jobs. Through semi-State bodies, etc., the Government is one of the biggest employers in the State, if not the biggest. In a time when private investment has collapsed there is an onus on the Government to bridge that investment gap by directly creating jobs. Some of the most successful countries in the world do exactly that.

It is important for the Government to create an environment in which entrepreneurs can be successful and the entrepreneurs can take the risk upon themselves when there is enough cash to do that. I welcome the change in the figures from 2013 to 2014 with regard to the IDA. I have been a member of this committee for a while and have said before that the Government can achieve success in this area. We often hear that FDI will go where it will go and the IDA has no real role in it, but there is obviously an improvement here, so I am sure somebody knows exactly why that has happened. Perhaps the Minister could indicate to what he directly attributes that improvement. What changes in policy and interaction were made to allow that?

It is stated that 44% of all investment has been made outside the Cork-Dublin area. Perhaps the Minister could indicate whether that 44% in is value terms or in terms of staff or jobs?