Mr. Martin Shanahan:

While it varies by sector and company, I would agree that we are more involved in providing property solutions than ever, particularly given the constraint on the private sector stepping forward to develop property solutions.

We have to work much harder to find appropriate solutions for our clients. This may involve acting as a connector and putting them in contact with the right people or acting as a broker. We market both public and private sector properties.

In regard to the process of engagement on regional development plans, the Government announced yesterday that regional enterprise action plans would be in place in six of the eight regional locations by July and the other two would follow shortly thereafter. The proposal is that either an Enterprise Ireland or an IDA senior manager will lead the development and co-ordination of each of those plans at local level. The individuals for each region have been appointed and we will now consult with local authorities, other arms of the State that have a regional presence and local representatives in order to assess what can be done in each region.

There were two arms to what was announced yesterday. One arm is the €150 million made available over a five year period for property solutions for the IDA. That relates both to the advanced technology buildings, but also to strategic sites and business and technology parks. The other arm relates to €100 million in competitive funding, which will be operated by colleagues in Enterprise Ireland. This will allow a bottom-up approach, where regions can bring forward ideas and pitch for competitive funding.