Mr. Ian Talbot:

Reference was made to the Global Irish Economic Forum. I was reminded of an old quote I use, boringly at times, from the Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, who said "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." If one does not try something then nothing will happen. We try at the Global Irish Economic Forum. This goes straight to the core of my presentation earlier. We need ventures such as the Global Irish Economic Forum and we need to set priorities, goals and performance indicators and measure against them and then decide whether to do it again. The key is to do that beforehand rather than agreeing that a given venture sounds like a good idea and therefore should be tried. Before we go into something we need to have clear goals with regard to what is expected and what we are anticipating and so on. Perhaps we are not doing enough of that. We have not been part of the Global Irish Economic Forum and I am unsure about the expectations of the people who go, what is expected of them in the room and what is expected of them when they leave Farmleigh and go back to their main roles. However, what matters is priorities and performance indicators and the measurement of and response to them.

I had not heard of the Cyprus idea before. There are many different ways of doing things. We must remain flexible. Although a given idea may seem good, we must ensure we can determine whether it is good.

I refer to another point in our presentation. Many things in foreign affairs can be intangible. For example, one should never underestimate the importance of organisations and companies such as Intel and Citibank and the importance of individual executives at a senior level in Ireland in those companies who are selling Ireland in New York to get more investment money from the parent companies back into Ireland. That is valuable and we need to continue to monitor how we do these things. It is difficult to get the tangible things. As I have stated already, we need to set goals and measure against them.

Reference was made to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regulatory impact assessments and specific reference was made to Valentia. Another well-known issue is that of the Corrib gas field. Our understanding is that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has made significant advances in recent years in rationalising the process for foreshore and offshore licensing and so on. Progress is being made but there is always additional work to be done. We hear both views on regulatory impact assessments. We hear people say they wish they had done a RIA because a given problem would not have occurred, but on the other hand there is a view about the torture of going through a RIA. I do not have an answer for the committee to that question.

Senator Mullins asked about our global reputation now. I have been at meetings of the International Chamber of Commerce, a global organisation, and Eurochambres, based in Brussels, since January. Several people approached me and said it was great that the Irish problem was solved. It was phenomenal and almost worrying. If others believe Ireland's problem is solved, that is great from the perspective of our reputation and perception. It is great news. Our reputation has improved immeasurably. Yesterday in the Financial Times several eminent people, including Wolfgang Münchau, said a great job had been done by Ireland on the promissory note. Our reputation has improved significantly but we cannot allow that to take away from the fact that we know there is still work to be done at home. Anyway, the perception is improving abroad and that is what counts. That much is great.

What more could be done? What three things would I do? I had not realised I was here for a job interview. We have a great opportunity with the Presidency of the Council of the European Union to focus on delivering two or three key things in the area. Can we get an EU-US trade agreement done in four and a half months? I am unsure, but it would be great to have some landmark things to further embed the fact that we are deliverers and that we can implement and do things.

That is what we need to say to people. Our expertise is in getting things done and it may not be innovation or the smart economy. It is a case of setting goals and priorities and delivering them. That is more important than a pie in the sky, highfaluting idea which sounds good but which never gets delivered. We need to deliver on the Presidency.

We need to get the message out to copper-fasten the general global perception the Ireland is, yet again, a good place in which to do business. The Taoiseach's aim is for this country to be the best country in which to do business by 2016. We need to keep doing the right things. Once the troika leave, we do not want them back, whatever the circumstances. When they leave here, it is a one-way trip.