Mr. Ian Talbot:

With so much media attention being given to Ministers and civil servants in spending money on events associated with St. Patrick's Day, there is a major focus on the level of activity involved. People are as concerned about the hotel in which they stayed appearing on the front page of a newspaper as they are about the task they were there to perform. We do not support flaithiúlach expenses, but it is welcome that the world stops for a few minutes on 17 March and thinks of Ireland in some way. We should have people in key markets who are not fearful of appearing in the newspapers because of the expenses incurred but expect to appear in the newspapers because of the meetings they have had because of the value they bring to the economy. We are doing the right thing and should not be afraid of doing more. There is grief associated with it, as well as a certain amount of management. However, we should be doing more, as no other country has anything remotely like it.

We have a very good and positive relationship with the Department, but it is challenged in merging two distinct sets of businesses. We get into concerns about how one manages the process of change and having an embassy in a country that also has an Enterprise Ireland and an IDA Ireland office and how these three bodies, with different skill sets, work together. We also get into concerns about how the budget is reallocated and how much money is allocated to the effort on trade versus diplomatic approaches. The Department is doing a great job, but many sections of the Civil Service and the public sector are being asked to change rapidly to meet our dramatically changing economic circumstances. Do they have the skill sets to manage the change process? Managing change is very difficult, whether one is in the public or private sector, and giving people the skills to manage change is an important part of the process.

That overlaps with the question of embassies, and making choices on which countries we should be focusing. We take the view that the issue is how to use the available resources in the best way possible. That brings us back to Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and embassy in various countries in which we have representatives working together to deliver for business and for the economy.