Mr. Terry Clune:

I was invited to attend the Global Irish Forum in 2011. Many people in the audience, including people from overseas with Irish connections, were looking to do something to support the Irish economy. I was involved in proposing an idea to the Government on foot of that. The idea developed to become the Succeed in Ireland initiative, which was rolled out a few months later. ConnectIreland is doing something simple but powerful. We ask people to use their connections abroad to help us find companies that might expand to Ireland. Everybody here has family members, friends or business contacts abroad. They might hear about a company that is expanding into Europe. When companies expand into Europe, they typically go Germany, France or England. They do not necessarily consider Ireland. If we have connections in a company who can tell us when it is expanding, we can use that lead. In such circumstances, ConnectIreland works with IDA Ireland to approach the company and explain the many advantages of locating in Ireland. That is the simple premise.

As part of the Succeed in Ireland initiative, the person who introduces us to the lead, or their preferred charity or club, is offered a Government reward of €1,500 per job that is created by the company in question. The programme was launched last year and will have been in operation for two years in March of next year. We have already announced many success stories involving jobs that have been created in Ireland through this programme. The person on the cover of the document that I sent to the joint committee as an example is the CEO of a Michigan-based company, Magni Group. He was looking to set up a company in the Czech Republic. He was flying there via Dublin because he had heard that Ireland is a great place to play some golf. He flew into Dublin Airport and got a driver to bring him to the Heritage golf club in County Laois. He played some rounds of golf with his colleague. When they were having their dinner and a few drinks in the bar afterwards, they met a local businessman from Portarlington - Mr. Kieran Leavy, who is shown on page 2 of the document - who knew about ConnectIreland through his local GAA club.

After Mr. Leavy spoke to the CEO about the golf, he asked him what he did for a living. The CEO mentioned that he intended to travel to the Czech Republic the following day to try to set up an office or a factory there. Mr. Leavy asked him whether he had thought about doing the business in question in Ireland and said he knew someone who would love to speak to him. On foot of those two sentences, he put the CEO in contact with ConnectIreland. We met him when he returned from the Czech Republic a few days later to give him the pitch on Ireland. Four or five months later - two months ago - the company announced that its new factory will be located in Portarlington rather than in Prague. Some €15 million is being spent at present on the construction of the factory, which will create 50 jobs. It will take a while for the factory to be finished. This is a great example of how simple this initiative is. Fifty jobs are coming to Ireland thanks to Mr. Leavy. If we had several hundred or a few thousand people like him, we could create thousands of new jobs in this country. That is essentially what the programme is about. It is working.

We have rolled out key partnerships with certain bodies, such as the GAA. We have piloted this scheme with various GAA clubs. As members may be aware, one of the big challenges being faced by the GAA is that its players are emigrating. It is difficult to find funding for clubs. When the GAA presented this initiative to its board last year, the logical simplicity of it was apparent to all concerned. We are now piloting it with certain clubs, which are simply asking their members to spread our message of keeping one's eyes and ears open for Ireland.

One may have a daughter in Florida who is working for a small medical device company. That company, ultimately, will plan to set up an operation somewhere in Europe. Ireland is a great location for it but the CEO of the company may not know that. The person's daughter or son or brother or friend working in the company can be a great conduit to help us find companies that are expanding. We all know that Ireland is a fantastic location for business. IDA Ireland has done a tremendous job during the past 40 years at selling Ireland to major multinationals and attracting thousands of jobs as a result. There are thousands of smaller, medium-sized companies who do not yet know the advantages of Ireland. By harnessing our diaspora, our connections around the world and incentivising them through a reward we can build and create many more new jobs for Ireland and build on the great work IDA Ireland has done. That is what ConnectIreland is doing.

The funding model is unusual. In my day job I run a financial service company called Tax Back Group. In Ireland we have 160 people, worldwide we have 1,000 people and we have locations in 22 countries. I proposed at the outset that given the funding model I fund this project in total. We have a team of 26 people. As the company sets up in Ireland and as jobs are created, we get paid by the State. It is a no foal no fee model which is new. It has never been done previously by any country that we have seen. We are already off to what we think is a good start. Our target over a five-year period is 5,000 jobs. We anticipate that by March we will have 1,000 jobs. In regard to the companies we are helping to attract, the connectors, people like Kieran Leavy, can let us know about the companies and can be very influential in bringing the jobs not only to Ireland, but to the regions. Recently, we had a company announced in Kells, County Meath, where the connector got to know the company quite well and explained the advantages of Ireland, but also explained the many advantages of Kells. As a result it has announced 70 jobs in Kells, County Meath, and a new factory there.

Some time ago, when giving a talk in Seattle, an individual in the audience had a connection to Ireland. We asked the audience what connections they had to companies and this individual said he did not know any businesses but we suggested that he ask his neighbours. His next door neighbour in Seattle, who was not Irish, knew of a company that was expanding. It was originally seeking to set up in Holland. He told us about the lead and we gave the pitch for Ireland and it set up five weeks ago in Ringaskiddy, County Cork, with 55 jobs. That is the simplicity of the model and it is working.

We are approaching the end of year two. It takes a while to get started from absolutely zero, with nothing in one's Excel spreadsheet, and no names of companies to get the message out there. Committee members may have seen us at Dublin Airport where we have a stand and explain to people as they are leaving the simplicity of the initiative and how they can benefit their charity or themselves through their reward and also their country through the jobs that come. We are extending the initiative to universities. The other document I gave to the committee is on an alliance with Notre Dame University. It has a huge network of business people, past pupils, all around the US who can help us find companies that are expanding. This is a new channel for IDA Ireland and a new channel for job creation in Ireland. We are only in the early stages but I look forward to explaining more as time progresses.