Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The money we reallocated for this year is about spend that has already happened. There was a big emphasis on the new project the IDA did with Bloomberg this year, at which I spoke, as did the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Taoiseach. I think the Tánaiste was there as well. It was a great success. It put Ireland on the map with a target invite list of senior decision-makers in business around the world. It was an important project. It represented the IDA's ambition in a positive way. From my experience, the IDA will double down on the US as a place where we must continue to focus and there is now increased competition. That is in the context of next year. We gave the IDA a lot of extra money for next year to fill more posts. The IDA could have up to 50 extra people by the end of next year. It is about people and giving them a decent budget to be able to market what Ireland has to offer.

Let us not forget that the return on investment is quite extraordinary when you look at the corporate tax take and the payroll figures multinationals have. It is an extraordinary positive contribution to wealth creation and economic development on many levels. New markets are emerging. I was in South Korea with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, both of which felt it is a strategic market in which we are only starting to explore the potential. If you look at the scale of global companies that have grown out of South Korea such as Samsung, Hyundai, Kia, LG and SK, they are enormous. Samsung alone represents about 20% of South Korea's GDP. For most of these South Korean companies, virtually all of their manufacturing activity takes place at home. They are looking to potentially diversify to other parts of the world, including Europe.

We see that as a strategic opportunity to invite some of these global giants into the EU through Ireland. There are, I think, new strategic objectives in markets like South Korea, but we will certainly be continuing to focus on the more traditional markets as well.