Mr. Peter O'Neill:

Most companies, when deciding to make investments, look at the long term rather than the short term and critical in that is the question of certainty. In fairness to successive Governments, they have been very consistent on this issue and have recognised that it is a cornerstone of our economic policy and will stay that way. My own experience and that of other CEOs I have spoken to indicates that the competition for foreign direct investment is intensifying all of the time. Not only are some countries improving their game, others which did not have the capacity to compete in the past are moving up the value chain as well. If there was any hint of uncertainty around our corporate tax rate, other countries would play on that to our disadvantage. That is why it is very important that we are rock solid on that issue.

Apart from the tax rate which, as Ms Richardson said, is the key foundation, there are other policies that we also need to work on. The mandates of a lot of companies in Ireland have been changing and evolving in recent years. For example, the whole issue of research and development and the attractiveness of doing it in Ireland is critically important. Indeed, last week we had the announcement from an Irish company, Kerry Group, that it has decided to locate a research and development facility in Ireland. That is a very important issue, as is the issue of talent and the ability to attract skilled workers, which we would be very happy to discuss further.