Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Sinnamon and her team. I congratulate them on last Thursday’s cross-sectorial working event in Galway, part of the trade and investment mission in conjunction with IDA Ireland. The purpose of this was for start-ups to engage with multinationals. How did this and the other meetings across the country go?

I congratulate Enterprise Ireland for a successful 2014 and 2015 thus far. Exports to the UK are at €6.8 billion and are up 9%. This shows the importance of our nearest neighbour. There are concerns in some quarters, however, about a possible Brexit. Exports to South America come to €0.2 billion, which is, relative to other export figures, not that large. What are the main challenges in exporting to that part of the world? What is needed to improve this? Under what category does China come in this report? Is it Asia-Pacific?

Are there other areas in which the Ireland House initiative, in conjunction with the embassies, consulates and IDA Ireland, can be rolled out? One in Austin, Texas, for example, was rolled out last year. Are there other areas where we can locate these offices?

Like Deputy Dara Calleary, I have some concerns about the 11,200 job losses and to what that can be put down. Overall, the west has the lowest net jobs growth. Will the delegation comment on this? At a recent IBEC-arranged meeting, I encountered at least one company from the Gaeltacht which would have come under the remit of Údarás na Gaeltachta but would prefer to engage with Enterprise Ireland. Is there some role Enterprise Ireland can play with these companies?