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

Gabhaim buíochas mar gheall ar an cur i lathair iontach. First, I congratulate the witnesses on the level of job creation in which they have been involved. From our perspective, we sometimes like to see what types of things can be fixed within a process to make it even better for the country, and the IDA can be coy about discussing those because it does not wish to send out a negative message and so forth.

However, a couple of matters have caused people concern with regard to our competitive advantage. The witness mentioned different competitive advantages. Our rating in the International Institute for Management Development, IMD, talent report has dropped ten places as regards talent. There are also major pinch points at present with residential rents and availability, commercial rents and availability and infrastructure, with capacity levels being reached. What effect is that having on the IDA's role and what do the witnesses believe should be changed there? There is an example in America where multinationals decamp from places such as Silicon Valley to satellite locations. If a similar culture can be developed in this country, it could be quite useful for the companies and for the country's spatial strategy.

Also, with regard to spatial strategy, the national spatial strategy was developed in 2002 and is now largely defunct. We are awaiting the next national planning framework. What is the IDA's guiding role with regard to the delivery of locations?

Taxation is a sore point in many respects. The chief economist of the Department of Finance, in an appearance before the finance committee, stated that he did not know for sure what was leading to such volatility with corporation taxation. There is also the fact that 140 FDI firms account for 70% of corporation tax. It is a very narrow corporation tax base. What are the witnesses' views on the volatility in that area?

How can we link better with SMEs? The witness said there is some work on linking SMEs with FDI but in international terms, and I am aware that Ireland is an outlier because it is smaller than Germany and so forth, the linkage between SMEs and FDI is a little lower here than it should be. Some people say that FDI operates as an island to a certain extent, as it imports a sizeable chunk of its inputs.

The witness spoke about regional development, so I will not go back over that. He outlined what the project is, to resolve the lopsided economy that currently exists. Interestingly, the north-east Border region appears to be quite successful. There was a 51% increase in IDA supported jobs there in the four year period of 2010 to 2014, which is fantastic. Perhaps we could discuss the key success factors in that and how that has worked. My native county is Meath. Unfortunately, I am criticised when I mention this but it is still a poor relation when it comes to the IDA. When jobs are created in Dublin, there is one job for every 17 people. In Kildare, there is one job for every 50 people but in Meath there is one job for every 147. Meath is way down on the list in the mid-east circle around Dublin in that regard.

Finally, Mr. Shanahan mentioned the IDA's standing in the context of key performance indicators internationally with regard to the level of jobs it has created and saved. However, as far as euro per job is concerned, is there any mapping of key performance indicators among some of its competitor agencies? I realise they are not all directly comparable. The Scottish competitor looks after indigenous and external development, but it would be interesting to hear about the per euro issue.