Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 September 2013

Public Accounts Committee

Annual Report and Accounts 2012: Discussion with IDA Ireland

11:40 am

Mr. Barry O'Leary:

Yes. Ultimately, though, when we are dealing with the senior executives, we have subject matter experts who can talk to companies. They can talk the talk, which is very important. If it is a company in the technology sector, for example, we use experts in that field who can hold their own with anybody in the world. The same applies in the pharmaceutical sector. Having a representation role is helpful for certain things but at the end of the day, it is dealing with the C-level executives - either CEOs, CIOs or CTOs - which is important.