Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will not need ten minutes. I will be as brief as possible.

Most of the conversation has been about working with existing companies and trying to improve their efficiencies. How far outside the factory gate do our guests' organisations go? Does they have an input in that regard? I am talking here in terms of the national development plan or the national planning framework. One can have the most efficient company business, whatever their business may be, but if they are located in the wrong place, their workers can have an enormous carbon footprint. How far down the line do they go in having an input into that aspect?

Jobs and job creation are king, especially for IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. Let us say that a super company wants to locate operations here. It is a massive FDI opportunity and there is massive job potential but, depending on the nature of the business, it does not tick all of the boxes when it comes to policies on CO2 or other greenhouse gas emissions. Where would our guests draw the line? Would climate change take precedence? Where would they draw the line and say, "Sorry, we are not interested. We suggest you go somewhere else"? Let us say afterwards it becomes public knowledge that the organisations our guests represent turned away a company that wanted to create 1,000 jobs. In that instance, how would they justify turning down such an opportunity? Would they say that the company in question was going to have an enormous impact in the context of the greenhouse gas emissions of this nation? Where would they draw the line? Where would they finish their negotiations as to how they can achieve more acceptable figures when it comes to CO2 emissions or whatever? How much precedence would climate change be afforded in negotiations?

My final questions relate to interdepartmental communication and the initiatives the Department is driving through research and development. In terms of the companies that are buying in and that are actively involved in research and development and improving their processes through the work the Department is doing with them, how successful are their efforts? How difficult is it for companies to recruit the employees they need to work on new initiatives? What level of communication has the Department got with the education and science sectors, for example, in terms of apprenticeships or third-level training or education for the workforce that, possibly, is going to be needed if people row in with the Department and are successful in developing their industries?