Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. We absolutely need to grow that figure. We are putting investments in place to do that. For instance, Enterprise Ireland has six staff in Canada, including a manager, senior market adviser, market adviser and two international graduates. The support that it gives to companies that want to come into the Canadian market is extraordinary. It is dedicated and focused. It is tailored to the specific companies. According to the companies I met, as the Deputy will get a sense of when she travels, there are significant opportunities for Irish companies to take the jump and go beyond the UK market. Yesterday, in association with our colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs, we had a forum looking at the Latin American and Caribbean market. We had people and companies in with Enterprise Ireland at Dublin Castle for a forum. Enterprise Ireland advisers are in Dublin to try to encourage companies to look at the market too.

We need to continue the expansion. Canada is a good case. We have put resources behind that ambition to expand our Enterprise Ireland footprint and to work with our colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Global Ireland initiative. I put on record my thanks to our consul in Vancouver, Cathy Geagan, and our consul in Toronto, Janice McGann, who work closely with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland as part of the team Ireland initiative. We need to work far more closely with the local enterprise offices to encourage companies to take the leap to exporting, because there are significant opportunities there.