Ms Br?d O'Connell:

I thank the Deputy. I am delighted she brought up that question for clarification. Guaranteed Irish does not mean that the product is made in Ireland. The product can be made in Ireland but it is not exclusive to being 100% made in Ireland. If we think about any product out there, for example, in food products or even manufacturing, there is always a widget that needs to be brought in from somewhere to complete the process, or sugar for conservation of food in a jar, tin or package. The reality is we no longer grow beet here. We do not have a sugar factory. There is always an element or a spice that is brought in to make the product whole. The criteria for Guaranteed Irish membership goes through a dedicated appraisals team because due diligence is key. This is all quite new since 2016 or 2017. There is a board of directors and a separate appraisals board. The appraisals board assesses the application based on jobs at the company, whether it is supporting quality, sustainable, good jobs, and whether it supports its community and gives back to it in some way that is not necessarily just benefiting the company from a profit point of view, but is doing the right thing. It is looking over your shoulder, giving back and helping the next guy and your community to thrive, the community being Ireland or any part of that. The third piece relates to provenance. At least 50% added value has to be made to the product or service. In the case of services, which may being accountants, solicitors or different IP pieces of business, it is obviously 100% because it is intel. However, in terms of products and manufacturing, food or pharmaceuticals, which are a great example, where the products are partly made here, we assess them on the 50% or more. That is very important because that is the added value piece, added here in Ireland. That added value insists on a certain level of expertise in our field which adds to Ireland's reputation and to all the layers of goodwill on which we are trading throughout the world. So many doors have opened to doing business with Ireland over the generations, from past - better - people than me, promoting Ireland. Provenance is about the 50% or more added value.

In regard to the made in Ireland piece, it is quite a difficult piece and needs clarity around it. Many products are made in Ireland but how much of the product that is made in Ireland is Irish? People need to question that piece. There is a good deal of confusion in the marketplace. Guaranteed Irish is absolutely clear on our boxes. The business gets the licence, not the product. It is not the pen that I make here in Ireland that gets the licence. The company that makes the pen gets the licence. That is based on its behaviours, its support of good quality jobs, commitment to communities and a provenance of 50% or more added here. That allows the expertise, PR and the reputation of the country for doing business with. It is important to clarify that. That also feeds back into the sustainability side. There is a whole ethics piece there on the appraisals piece in terms of doing the right thing by Ireland and our people. It is also very important that as a new Ireland is emerging all the time, our population focus has totally changed since I was growing up, which is wonderful to see and inclusive. They bring much more wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. It is great to see the fusion of the multicultural and the multinational with the homegrown and the Irish. There is a really nice fusion and we have a real opportunity to score points there globally in terms of inward investment. We strive to do that. That is why we were thrilled to get the invitation here today to inform our colleagues in government about this brilliant brand that has stood the test of time, more than most, either homegrown or international. It has work to do. We are willing and able. We are saying to our Government colleagues let us use this brand a lot more because it has real value to it, once the component parts are understood.

The point the Deputy highlighted is actually the stumbling block. People sometimes do not understand that. My colleague Ms Mitchell will say a bit about the marketing campaign we launched this year as a platform of the 50th celebration. The campaign can be heard on radio and television adverts, particularly radio and digital, where we are saying what is the guarantee of Guaranteed Irish and we are explaining to people that it is about jobs, communities and provenance, about giving back and doing the right thing, and that has a value. That has gone out-----