Mr. Martin Shanahan:

I will ask my colleague Mr. Dermot Clohessy to elucidate on a few of my comments. As the Deputy pointed out approximately 70% of foreign direct investment comes from North America, 20% comes from Europe and 10% from growth markets. Foreign direct investment from the US has performed over many years and that market is currently experiencing extremely strong growth. That is encouraging and will be beneficial to us.

In the past number of years Europe has been flat but we would expect to see some growth in the level of investment emanating from Europe in the coming years. We would like to increase our market share in Europe. There is a need for investment of resources in offices and staff in growth markets but it will require a longer period to gain a return. We have to build the relationships. The Deputy will be keenly aware of the importance of government to government relationships in those markets as well as the commercial relationships underneath. We are starting to see some returns from both India and China but it will take time to ramp it up. Our ambition is to achieve a more balanced portfolio.

The institutes of technology, the then regional technical colleges, are key attractors. I referred to this in my response to Deputy Deasy and the Chairman. Part of the reason we market regions is that they had institutes of technology which can feed the region. The ITs are a significant asset in terms of achieving regional development. Will Mr. Clohessy add to what I have said?