Ms Julie Sinnamon:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present this morning. As the members of the committee have my opening statement, I will just make a few brief comments.

Enterprise Ireland helps companies throughout Ireland to start and scale, innovate and remain competitive on international markets, now and in the future. The manufacturing and internationally traded services companies that Enterprise Ireland works with are a vital source of employment in every county in Ireland and are spread across a wide range of sectors. Enterprise Ireland-supported companies now directly provide employment for 180,072 people, comprising 156,202 full-time and 23,870 part-time workers, and in total 300,000 plus people, directly and indirectly.

EI-supported companies created 18,033 new jobs in 2013. This resulted in a net increase of 5,442 in the number of people employed. Total exports exceeded previous records to reach €17.1 billion in 2013. The 2014 survey is being undertaken at present and is expected to show exports exceeding €18 billion in 2014.

In January 2015 we reported that Enterprise Ireland client companies created 19,705 new jobs in 2014. As a result they created 8,476 net new jobs - the highest net gain in the history of the agency.

This employment growth demonstrates the direct impact that increasing exports has had on jobs in Ireland. This employment growth demonstrates the direct impact that increasing exports has had on jobs in Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland's accounts for 2013 were signed off by the Comptroller and Auditor General on 27 June 2014. We support companies both directly through the provision of financial supports and services to our client support network and indirectly by helping to build the wider enterprise infrastructure, for example through our work on technology centres.

The past two years have seen record employment gains for Irish companies and the highest level of exports ever achieved. All our key indicators are suggesting that employment and export growth is set to continue and there is a strong pipeline of start-up and expansion projects coming through. Enterprise Ireland has the most ambitious targets for any three year period in the history of the agency, in terms of jobs, exports and start-ups.

The active support of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is vital to our ability to execute our strategy with Irish companies. EI works closely with a range of other Departments, such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to support the growth of Ireland's enterprise sectors, particularly in the context of the Action Plan for Jobs. Similarly, the close collaboration of the agencies, including IDA Ireland, is critical to supporting enterprise in Ireland.

Our key focus areas for the coming term will be as follows - driving entrepreneurship and start-ups; scaling Irish enterprise across all sectors and stages of growth; developing Ireland's market-driven research and development capabilities; and accelerating regional enterprise development.