Ms Joanna Murphy:

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to appear before the joint committee. It is great to have an opportunity to provide an update on the progress being made by ConnectIreland. My colleague, Mr. Tom Dowling, will outline some of our ambitions for the project.

In December 2013, the chairman of ConnectIreland, Mr. Terry Clune, and the CEO, Mr. Michael McLoughlin, made a presentation to this committee and said that we had 1,500 registered connectors and just over 300 jobs. ConnectIreland started from a position of no companies and no connectors, a blank spreadsheet and an idea, so we had to become innovative very quickly. We met Irish people in all the usual places in the Irish networking groups and diaspora groups and asked them to help. For example, we asked Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, if it would give us a presence at Dublin Airport. At first it gave us a small presence. I am sure members of the committee are familiar with what has become a landmark site in Dublin Airport at terminal 2. The response to the Dublin Airport stand was remarkable. DAA invited us to extend our stand to terminal 1. I am sure all members of the committee have heard the dulcet tones of Mr. Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh as he descends terminal 2 escalator talking about why Ireland is a magnificent place to live and set up a business. From that initial ambition at Dublin Airport, Cork Airport also became involved as did Shannon Airport. Ryanair became involved also when it invited us to take the centre fold, the two page centre spread, in its in-flight magazine. Aer Lingus also became ambassadors for ConnectIreland. Every time one takes a long-haul flight, one will hear the senior cabin crew say: "Aer Lingus supports job creation in Ireland, you can help too and earn a reward."

We presented to the GAA's Central Council in 2012 and the GAA became ardent supporters of ConnectIreland, particularly through the presidency of Liam O'Neill, who spoke at this committee recently on the same subject. Subsequently, we travelled all over the world with the GAA network advocating and evangelising the power of the Irish networks and what we have to offer if we manage to join it together in some meaningful way. Other major organisations that have become involved include the IRFU and the FAI. The IRFU has allowed us access to the Aviva Stadium at various international games. This has allowed us a magnificent opportunity to speak with people who may be in a position to set up a business in Ireland. Those presences and the initiatives we have undertaken heretofore have created a noise. The noise has brought us connectors and the connectors have brought us companies and, of course, the companies have brought us jobs and those jobs, as we all know, matter.

We asked Irish people and friends of Ireland for help and they responded in their thousands. ConnectIreland has been humbled and inspired by the efforts of many Irish and friends of Ireland and their valiant attempts to do something positive for Ireland in the area of job creation to try to reverse the tide of destruction that recent emigration has brought to our shores.

At this juncture in the programme, ConnectIreland can take little, if any, credit for the success to date. The credit lies with the connectors, some 50,000 of them who are keeping their eyes and ears open for Ireland. ConnectIreland simply provides the vehicle for the connectors to express their affinity for Ireland. My colleague, Mr. Tom Dowling, and I have just come from a recognition event in the Taoiseach's office to applaud the achievements and contribution of three individuals who have, through engaging with ConnectIreland and the Succeed in Ireland initiative, been hugely instrumental in helping create Irish jobs. ConnectIreland is focused on helping to create real sustainable jobs in rural Ireland. Today, we appear before the committee with close to 50,000 connectors and 38 successful companies. To date, 1,200 jobs have been created through the Succeed in Ireland initiative with the potential to create a further 3,000 jobs. About 100 new companies are being introduced every month. Half of these jobs are going to locations across Ireland that would not typically receive foreign direct investment such as Longford, Kinvara in Galway, Kells in County Meath, Shannon and Carlow. Some nine counties have benefited already from the Succeed in Ireland initiative - Carlow, Waterford, Limerick, Galway, Longford, Meath, Cork, Dublin and Clare.

Working with Enterprise Ireland, Údarás, IDA Ireland and other agencies, ConnectIreland is eager to achieve a wide spread of jobs across Ireland. It is a slow process from connector registration to company conversion but we believe we have proven beyond doubt that the Succeed in Ireland initiative will result in the creation of thousands of real sustainable jobs.

Recently, the Oireachtas committee published a report on policy options to support business growth and job retention in towns and village centres. These jobs are not just numbers. Through the community action plan, ConnectIreland is working with communities throughout Ireland to mobilise and inspire them to make the best pitch for their counties. The purpose of this campaign is to inspire, energise and engage communities and councils to get involved and do something for themselves and to assist in the creation of real, sustainable jobs for their children and communities. Kells in County Meath has been the most successful location, having already brought in four companies. There have been five in total in the county, including one in the Gaeltacht area. Other communities can do this if they work together to showcase what they have to offer. This counts for 160 jobs in Meath, with a further 140 in the pipeline. This is a remarkable achievement in a town with a population of 5,500 people.

While individual connections are important and will continue to be a core part of the ConnectIreland model, whole communities can bring added value to individual connectors by working together to highlight the strength of a particular area and giving a warm and inviting welcome to potential investors. As part of the Action Plan for Jobs regional strategy, ConnectIreland works hand in hand with county councils and community groups throughout Ireland with a view to attracting jobs to regional areas.

Previously rolled out across Ireland, this year the community action plan is being co-ordinated by county councils, embraced by the new local enterprise offices, and is engaging members of the business community and local voluntary and community groups as well as council officials in a joint diaspora engagement programme. Following the appointment of the Minister of State for the diaspora, ConnectIreland has actively engaged with the Minister of State and his Department, which have been hugely supportive, and was included in the Government's first diaspora policy. We worked with the Minister of State on his diaspora policy not only to engage with the diaspora but also to mobilise it to help create thousands of jobs in Ireland as well.