Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will tell Deputy Smith why, exactly. A total of 187,000 people in this country are employed by foreign direct investment companies. I make no apologies for that or for those 187,000 people. Every time I take parliamentary questions I am asked about the number of site visits and how many IDA Ireland companies are opening up in various counties. Most Deputies are looking for that information. As I said, 187,000 people are working in those companies. Most are well-paid and in permanent jobs. They are not temporary or minimum wage jobs, nothing like it.