Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation. Our job is to probe to see, in measured terms, what the effect of its work is. I thank Mr. Sherry for his submission. It is light on targets, I think, so I would like to concentrate on that area.

Indigenous industry is something we have talked about for some considerable time. I note that Mr. Sherry says there are 300,000 jobs among client companies of Enterprise Ireland in this sector. Would Enterprise Ireland have all indigenous companies under its remit or only those with an export focus? Mr. Sherry mentioned that this figure represents approximately 16% of the total workforce. In recent years, economic commentators would have said that indigenous industry is where the growth in employment must come from. That seems a small percentage. Would Mr. Sherry have a comparison with ten years ago? What targets does Enterprise Ireland have for that sector in job numbers and percentage terms?

With regard to the ASEAN countries, Enterprise Ireland has eight offices and 36 staff, six of which are in Singapore. As Deputy Byrne said, it is a huge marketplace, and that seems a very small number of staff and offices. I know resources are an issue in everything we do, but ideally, to be really effective, what does Mr. Sherry think that figure needs to become?

What targets has Enterprise Ireland set for each of those ASEAN countries for growth in exports by indigenous companies here? Mr. Sherry has mentioned some sectors. Are there others in which we are not involved and which we should be trying to develop to enhance the export sector and contribute positively to job creation?