Ms Joanna Murphy:

I thank the Chairman and the committee. It is a tremendous privilege for ConnectIreland to come to the Houses of the Oireachtas to present a successful job creation initiative, primarily for rural Ireland, of which we are very proud. Before reading my presentation, I wish to offer our sincere condolences to those in Sinn Féin on the loss of their colleague last night.

The purpose of ConnectIreland's appearance before the committee is to appeal for a bridging contract to allow us to continue to operate the Succeed in Ireland initiative, preferably with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The contract for Succeed in Ireland is due to expire on Sunday next. Recently, the Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, confirmed in the Dáil that she has asked her Department for a review to be conducted on the initiative after it has been terminated. ConnectIreland welcomes the review but we respectfully request that it be independent, that it be carried out by third party and that it include the experience of ConnectIreland in implementing this programme, overseen by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. We have received tremendous support from tens of thousands of loyal members of the Irish diaspora who continue to introduce valuable leads every day, thereby benefiting rural Ireland. We wish only to continue the work that we do until that review has been concluded and recommendations arrived at. We see no advantage in the discontinuation of this vital job creation programme before the review is complete.

ConnectIreland is a not-for-profit patriotic initiative founded by Terry Clune to operate the Succeed in Ireland initiative to bring jobs to Ireland in the wake of the recent financial crisis. The initiative is an idea which came from the Global Irish Economic Forum in 2011. It utilises Ireland's relationship with its diaspora and global connections to persuade companies to move to Ireland. The way it works is simple: people - connectors - who know someone planning to move a company into Europe will get in touch with ConnectIreland which will then provide a wide range of supports to that company to help it decide to choose Ireland. For passing on the lead, the connector will receive a reward of €1,500 for every job created. ConnectIreland has operated under the auspices of Industrial Development Agency, IDA, Ireland.

ConnectIreland has proved very successful in bringing small companies to Ireland. We have also been very successful in bringing jobs to rural Ireland, not just Dublin. We have brought 82 new-name, greenfield projects to Ireland, with a heavy rural emphasis. We have had 2,351 jobs approved by IDA Ireland's management investment committee, scaling over three years, with 1,046 jobs already on the ground. There have been 527 verified by IDA Ireland. There are almost 80,000 connectors, loyal members of the Irish diaspora who continue to introduce companies to us every day. They understand the initiative and support its ambitions. They are an army of volunteers working for Ireland. I take this opportunity to introduce Mr. James Moran, a connector in the first instance but now also running a company called SLM Connect in Gweedore, Donegal, and his colleague, chief executive of SLM Connect worldwide, Mr. Abdul Salam, who has graciously taken time to travel from Manchester today. Mr. Moran has travelled from Donegal to tell the committee why they chose Gweedore and why relationships with the Irish diaspora are so important.

Beyond what IDA Ireland has approved, we are working with 957 additional companies.

I direct Deputies and Senators to the list which shows the companies with which we are currently engaged and the relationships that will be lost on Sunday should we not be able to continue. We encourage them to relocate to Ireland. Should the programme be discontinued, the relationship and trust ConnectIreland has built with them will be lost. There is no cost to the taxpayer unless jobs have been created. At €4,000 per job created, of which we share €1,500 with our connectors, the initiative is 250% cheaper per job than the cost for IDA Ireland. We consider this to be something of which we are very proud. IDA Ireland's track record in attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland is exemplary, but as a new company, we are working with the diaspora to deliver jobs at a much lower cost to the taxpayer, of which we are very proud. Our connectors are based in 147 countries worldwide.

IDA Ireland is not renewing the contract which is due to expire on Sunday. We have had some significant challenges in implementing the programme, none of which was getting a lead from the diaspora in attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland. We are committed to resolving these issues. This is more important than structural difficulties. We are here because we want to continue to create jobs in Ireland which needs as many channels to job creation as possible. Closing down ConnectIreland is not in Ireland's national interests. Shutting down the Succeed in Ireland initiative will have an enormously negative impact on job creation in Ireland. Our global network will be lost and all jof the jobs in the pipeline will be put at risk. It will be extremely damaging to Ireland's reputation for thousands of investors. We will be missing huge opportunities for dozens of small towns in Ireland. In the context of Brexit, does this make sense? We see the continuing volatility of the jobs market and global uncertainty on the political landscape which confirm the need to have all possible job creation measures. This will be another killer blow to rural Ireland. We need the initiative to be extended to facilitate a review, of which we would be part, and until such a time as a path forward can be found for the initiative. We plead with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to step in to save jobs in rural Ireland and provide cross-departmental support for ConnectIreland. ConnectIreland has been the recipient of huge support from various Departments which we acknowledge and also from Irish embassies and consuls, as well as from significant Irish organisations such as the GAA.

I thank the committee for its time.