Mr. Dermot Clohessy:

I will address the overseas office network and the importance of ensuring we have a presence in the areas we believe can deliver for us. The decisions by IDA are evidence based on the opportunity for Ireland to win some of the business that comes from foreign direct investment from particular countries or regions. Consequently as Mr. Kevin Sherry has alluded to we keep an eye on the location of our offices to ascertain if they are in the right places. At a headline level it is based on an analysis of the data of their outward foreign direct investment into Europe and what Ireland can win. We keep that under review.

The IDA has 21 offices, seven of which are in North America, three are in Europe and 11 are located in the rest of the world. Our default principle is to co-locate with the embassy or other agencies, where that makes sense. Some 12 of the 21 offices are co-located with other agencies or embassies and nine are stand-alone offices for specific outbound foreign direct investment.

The Deputy asked about the marketing of the island of Ireland, obviously when IDA is marketing Ireland for foreign direct investment it focuses on what the whole of the island offers, the sub-supply base, third level infrastructure and the talent base. The client making a decision to locate in Ireland has a choice of jurisdiction.