Mr. Martin Shanahan:

To be fair to Deputy Tóibín, he asked me about the cost per job and I probably did not respond to him. As Deputy Kyne pointed out, the cost per job has been declining. The cost per sustainable job currently stands at €11,817. It is calculated on the basis of jobs that are sustained over a seven-year period. My role and that of my colleagues is to try to win jobs at the lowest possible cost to the State. We try to win investments that have no grant support, or the lowest level of grant support, attached to them. The cost per job has declined over recent years. We would hope to maintain a very competitive cost per job. It is not necessarily a reflection of the economic downturn. The cost per job is based on the number of jobs we are getting in. Regardless of whether it is large or small, the cost remains the same.

The types of supports have changed over time. Regional aid guidelines have placed greater constraints on what we can support. That is not necessarily an issue when we are competing with other European countries, but of course it can be constraining when we are competing with the rest of the world. Our ultimate target is to get in as much investment as possible at the least possible cost to the State.

We have very good relations with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We have 19 offices across the globe. Where possible, we have engaged in an Ireland House solution, which involves representatives of IDA Ireland being co-located with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Enterprise Ireland and other agencies. In some areas, such an approach has not yet been possible but it will be possible as different organisations exit their leases, etc. In some cases, we have slightly different business models, we are targeting different cohorts or we are in slightly different locations within a country. For the most part, we work very well together as part of the Ireland House approach. I was in Japan, Korea and Singapore early last week and the previous week. The ambassadors and embassy teams in each location offer substantial supports to IDA Ireland's operations locally, which are one-man operations for the most part. We need that backup. Given the small footprints we have, we need the Irish agencies on the ground - Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the embassy staff - to work closely together to achieve our collective objectives. I meet my counterpart, the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and many other colleagues in that Department on a regular basis. We have annual engagement on our plans. I think that approach is working quite well. In the past two years, we have engaged with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other agencies on local market plans to ensure all of the players know what the other players are doing. We make sure we are not tripping over one another in the market and we are identifying any opportunities that may exist. I think that is working quite well.

The advanced technology building in Galway will start in 2016. It may not be completed until 2017, but it is scheduled to commence in 2016. We have completed two advanced technology buildings, in Waterford and Athlone, and a further three buildings are now in the pipeline, in Sligo, Castlebar and Tralee. We have three more planned for next year. As I outlined in response to Deputies Tóibín and Calleary, we have stepped in to provide property because we would ideally like to see the private sector come in and respond to the undoubted need for more commercial property - advanced office and advanced technology buildings - in these areas, but this has not happened to date. The availability of property, particularly office buildings, is quite tight in a number of locations. IDA Ireland's property team, working with clients, is heavily involved in making the significant effort that is required to identify suitable property solutions. We are currently advancing to build these solutions as quickly as our internal resources and financial resources allow.

I assure Deputy Kyne that we are engaging with the National Transport Authority to try to identify a solution to the difficulties at Parkmore. One solution may involve greater use of public transport. There may also be a requirement for an infrastructural solution in the form of a slip road or something. We are currently engaged with the National Transport Authority and the council in relation to that. It is high on our agenda. We have engaged with all of the clients in Parkmore on it.