Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have about 17 or 18. Some of them are not full-blown Ireland Houses, if I can say that. I was in a location recently where, when I got back, I had to speak to one or two Departments to ask them to get their agencies in there. Ireland House in New York is superb. I opened that recently. It has all the agencies under the one umbrella, including Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, CIÉ Tours, Bord Bia and Tourism Ireland. The consulate is there as well. We have to get out of the silo mentality. The State needs to work on a multi-agency basis, especially overseas when we are interacting with other governments, markets and so on.

There will be a similar situation in Tokyo, when that new building happens, and in London. Our embassy in China is not physical - Ireland House is in Shanghai - but because of the nature of that state and how we interact with it, the ambassador takes a lead role in putting all the agencies together, which has been quite effective for a long time. That is the direction of travel. We need to strengthen it. It is a no-brainer as a concept. We should give a collective message to all the agencies out there that we do not endorse the silo mentality. The imperative is to engage in a multi-agency approach.