Ms Breda O'Sullivan:

In response to the question on whether companies are asking us for aid for energy efficiency, the issue is that we are always trying to make them as competitive and productive in Ireland as they possibly can be. What we are talking about doing with these kinds of supports is making their Irish sites the most attractive. The focus on transformation is a huge part of the current strategy because the reality is that multinationals have choices as to where they locate. They also have choices as to where they do energy efficiency projects so we are always trying to make sure that Ireland is as attractive as possible in that context. When we look at things like energy efficiency it can take costs out of the Irish operations and can underpin that employment, especially in regional locations. It can help to improve margins and solidify what they are doing here in Ireland.

There have been examples of that over the years, where the transformational investments we put in, while they might not have driven additional output and employment at the exact time that the project was going on, underpinned the investment in the long term, and they are constantly improving the investment in Ireland. That is the issue for us. They have choices, they can do this in many places and we want to make sure that they are doing it in Ireland.