Mr. Chris Collenette:

Certainly, growing up in Canada, Irish culture was so prominent. It is to be found on road signs, in music, obviously pubs, in schools, in Irish dance, and it was just a logical development. When James Maloney proposed this idea to the Liberal Party Government and then to the other parties, it was unanimously accepted and he was pushing on a very open door. That just reflects the strength of the relationship between the countries.

To address the Deputy’s question regarding the other companies that are employing people here that are not IDA Ireland companies, it is just that the IDA sometimes just tracks certain companies in certain industries and there are Canadian companies in Ireland that almost predate the authority. For example, there is Great-West Lifeco. Some of those long-standing companies might not be included in those IDA Ireland numbers. One might get a better sense from them as opposed to what might be called IDA Ireland clients, which are companies which are on the authority’s books and which it is actively trying to assist.

Obviously, business just then happens. There are structures put in place around the world for funds, aircraft leasing and there are a number of special purpose entities, SPEs, set up here which are ultimately Canadian-owned. Those types of businesses would not necessarily be tracked by IDA Ireland but just happened organically because Ireland is such a fantastic place to do business. I hope that answers the question.