Mr. Barry O'Leary:

The reaction among the business community in America is very positive towards Ireland. There is not the slightest doubt about this. In comparison with the situation a number of years ago, corporate America now has a positive view of Ireland.

The Deputy's second question was on the pharmaceutical industry and the patent cliff. Patents have been running out. They are subject to generic competition from generic manufacturers. Sufficient new products have not been coming on stream. However, that is changing. In other words, the bottom has been reached. If one looks at the pipeline of products, one will see that there is significant change taking place in that while the traditional white powder and tablets sector, the small molecule area, is declining somewhat, the areas of biopharmaceuticals is growing significantly. Notwithstanding some of the fall-outs we have had, during the past 18 months, since the beginning of 2012, we have secured approximately eight or nine investments in the biopharma area, with more to come. It is an issue of timing. These biopharmaceuticals are exceptionally expensive. The cost of treatment per year ranges from between €3,000 per person to €120,000. This will feed into the exports area. Amgen is investing €200 million in its biopharmaceuticals facility on Pottery Road in Dún Laoghaire, while Lilly is investing €400 million at its facility in Cork. In Westport Allergan is investing €250 million and will shortly have 500 construction workers on site. At the same time as we are getting the old going, new investments are coming in.