Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister and Minister of State for coming in today. I welcome some of the figures we have in front of us. We can see the further investment transferring onto the ground, so to speak, with the number of job announcements that have been made over recent months, especially in my county of Limerick. There have been quite a number of job announcements and I will continue to acknowledge and welcome that. I also welcome the reduction in unemployment. The figures are down to 7.2%, from approximately 15% five years ago, so we have halved it in five years. I want to see that trend continue. That needs to be stated from the outset.

On the further investment, particularly in IDA and Enterprise Ireland, the Minister mentioned figures of €1.3 billion over the next two years. Given what has happened in the United States, with the uncertainty for our own economy because of the number of American multinationals here, and as a result of Brexit, has there been a change in focus at departmental level to the Asian economies and to looking again at growing the footprint in Asia? As Deputy Collins mentioned, we had the IDA in and we talked to its representatives about what footprint we had in Asia. It is continuing to grow but there needs to be a new campaign or focus on Asia given the breadth of that market.

I will share some evidence with the committee. After living on that side of the world, I know that many Asian people assume that Ireland is part of the UK. They would not see Ireland as an independent country. I do not want people in that jurisdiction and market to think we are leaving the EU, that is, even if they recognise that Ireland is there. We need to get the message out there. We are talking about 60% of the world's population. Our footprint is quite low. It is on the increase and I welcome that. There should be an increased focus on that side of the world, given what has happened in the United States, Brexit and the change in the world order. Is that becoming a major priority within the Department?