Dr. Orlaigh Quinn:

It is one of our policy aims, and one the Government has charged us with, to ensure regional balance. IDA Ireland has been successful in regional balance in recent years. I mentioned that more than 50% of all jobs are now outside of Dublin. I will mention a number of features. First, IDA Ireland runs the regional action plan. That takes a regional approach and is led by businesspeople in the regions, which gives us a good oversight role. Enterprise Ireland's latest figure is that more than 60% of new jobs are being created outside Dublin.

We do not tend to think about a particular area, for example, Youghal, which the Deputy mentioned. We tend to think of it as a region because there are opportunities for people to commute and travel. We focus strongly on the region and to the forefront of our policy and aim is to have regional balance. I should say, particularly from the IDA Ireland side, that companies coming into Ireland make their own decisions. Quite often, they want to be beside an airport, water source or other feature, depending on their needs. We cannot control that but we encourage them by providing regional sites. IDA Ireland purchases advanced sites. We have advanced manufacturing coming up in Limerick and we try to work that closely on a regional basis which provides a basis for companies to come in, create employment and take up opportunities in other areas outside Dublin.