Dr. Pat Ivory:

No. There are proposals made by the Government to separate Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority. It is important that the importance of Shannon Airport for regional development is recognised. We have met the two task forces put in place by the Government to develop business models to help Shannon Airport to develop into the future and also to look at the new structures being proposed for Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and the taking over of some of their roles. This is an important item that must be advanced in the coming months.

There was a question on the role of our regional offices. Identifying companies is not a role they have ever played. However, we work very closely in partnership with the State agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. In that context, we very much welcome the decision of IDA Ireland to have an increased focus on attracting foreign direct investment from Asia, with a new internal structure to consider whether more investment can be attracted, from China in particular but also elsewhere in Asia. The visit earlier this year of Mr. Xi Jinping was very welcome in terms of the State agencies and the Government working together to advance this objective.

There is certainly a challenge in terms of patents running out for certain drugs produced in Ireland by the pharmaceutical industry. We must face this challenge. Over time there has been increased emphasis on undertaking research and development in this country, which is proving to be successful. We are attracting new investment in reseach and development in the pharmaceutical industry in order to develop new products and perhaps change the style of some of the business we do. This is continuing and it is very welcome.

On the issue of finance and banking, access to credit and finance presents a challenge for the economy. As we exit the troika programme and make further progress towards getting back to the markets, I hope in 2013, there will be an opportunity for us to introduce new finance and provide for access to finance into the economy. We look forward to this happening and are very pleased that Ireland's performance in the troika process and the reports on this have been very positive. We are meeting our targets and well on target to exit the programme are as planned. The Minister for Finance has made it clear that Ireland is capable of returning to the markets in the near future, which is something to be welcomed.