John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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On a light note, I did not get a chance to commend Mr. Shanahan on his appearance on the American business channel where he had to go to great lengths to explain that Ireland does not use sterling and we are not part of Great Britain. Well done to him on maintaining a professional approach on the day. I do not know how he managed it.

In his report, Mr. Shanahan alluded to the fact that any kind of regional balance beyond the urban areas is a challenge when it comes to foreign direct investment. I agree and have felt this is the case for some time. I am the only Dublin Deputy here today, but I respect the fact that people outside Dublin find it hard to ensure jobs are delivered in their areas. Given that 70% of jobs of foreign direct investment originates within the US, the main challenge lies there. Mr. Donoghue mentioned capacity issues that are coming down for all regions and said the IDA would feed in to the various bodies to ensure these can be addressed as far as possible. From the Dublin perspective, are there ways our local authorities - the four regional authorities within Dublin - could do more to ensure we continue to remain as good as we can be in driving what is, whether one likes it or not, the energy hub of the country. Dublin is the powerhouse that drives the economy and it and the regions around it will remain its main driver. Are there areas our four local authorities could improve?

Mention was made of the challenge to achieve a regional balance and of the regional plans in place to create pathways for foreign direct investment to get to other areas. This is a great idea and I hope it works as well as hoped. Now we need that balance, is it possible that the situation may arise whereby IDA Ireland will tell a company that we have reached our target for Dublin for a particular year, but it can offer the foreign company region X? Has that ever happened or will it ever happen? I am obviously concerned about the interests of the greater Dublin area.