Mr. Declan Hughes:

As the Deputy knows, at one level the changes to the corporation tax rate mean it is a level playing field right across the world. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, has been very engaged at OECD level to ensure there is certainty for businesses on what the future regime will be with respect to the move to a 15% rate for all businesses. That was a critical argument we made very strongly about how that would impact on our indigenous enterprise base. Sustaining the rate at 12.5% for all but the very largest businesses, namely those with a turnover above €750 million, is significant. At one level we get absolute certainty on what the regime might be. Obviously, there is a bit of a way to go with working through the detail and having that implemented. Businesses in general look at locations around the world. Ireland will continue to be attractive not because of the tax rate but because of a wide range of measures and the business environment we have. When we look at the uncertainty around the world, the IDA would say there are a number of key elements to that. The first is Ireland is a stable and certain business environment whether it is across the tax environment, the availability of skills and talent or the operating environment we have here in terms of the infrastructure and the access to the EU market, which is obviously a key advantage and something we fought very hard to sustain and which is indeed very much part of our offer.

The Deputy will have seen the IDA had a very good first half of the year in terms of new announcements of jobs etc. Many of those companies are coming here because they have existing businesses or because of the ecosystem we provide in some of those key new sectors for the future. Whether it is in financial services, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, ICT, or Internet services, we have a cluster and an ecosystem that is very attractive and very conducive to innovation, talent and getting access to international markets. I am struck by the figures for even the first half of the year. The IDA reported that of the projects in the first half of the year I think there were something like 62 names new to Ireland. They are companies that are coming here for the first time. Of the 142 investments won up to the end of the second quarter of the year, 62 were new-name investments. That is a great achievement given the IDA was trying to convince these businesses to come to Ireland and come to Europe. This is investment not just for Ireland but for Europe for the first time in a context where the authority was working with them remotely and digitally, so it is a great credit to it. Businesses scan around the world and ask where they should be locating and Ireland is one of those locations. You might want to be in the US or you might want to be in Asia but if you are coming to Europe, Ireland is the place to come, particularly in those frontier technology areas.

The other piece which is really impressive is the strong regional performance and indeed we had another announcement this morning of significant jobs for Waterford. On the strong regional performance, our cities are now competing with other cities and our regions are competing with other regions around Europe for locations. In the first half of the year, of the 142 investments, 68 were going to regional locations. Regarding the future, I point in particular to how quickly we have adopted and adapted to blended and remote working. That is something that will be an advantage in terms of winning new investments. Over the years we have had companies that have come, and I can think of some that are expanding through remote working and blended working, to get access to skills. The fact we now have a remote working policy and strategy and we have just done a consultation will further enhance our attractiveness for investment coming in. Indeed, I have seen some recent analysis which would indicate that up to a third of investment will be in that space around remote working and connecting teams. Overall, notwithstanding the uncertainty internationally, if we continue to focus on skills, innovation, developing our research system, the infrastructure, the ecosystems, the talent base and the policy environment, we are well positioned to attract the next waves of investment. As I mentioned in the brief, we have stepped up investment for next year in our disruptive technologies innovation fund, in digital hubs and also in terms of our investment into enterprise innovation in climate and in other areas. That will come both from FDI and also from Irish companies. I point in particular to the significant recent investment by ICON.

That refers back to our earlier point on the strength of the indigenous enterprise base that has invested both in Dublin and in Limerick. It is part of the development of the clinical trials infrastructure in Limerick, with Cook Medical and many other companies there. There is that synergy and complementarity between our indigenous and overseas base.