Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I wish to make it clear that I take seriously the campaign platforms of both President-elect Obama and the defeated candidate Senator John McCain. We have analysed them, we are mindful of them and will not ignore them. There are up to 474 US companies in Ireland employing approximately 95,000 people.

I do not wish to digress but there has been a significant assault on the public service generally in recent times. We have 29 staff in the US. If one considers the extent of American investment in Ireland and the number of Irish companies that wish to trade and engage with the US, that represents an extraordinary performance by those staff.

The Deputy's question raises the issue of deployment and securing value for money. We will work with our contacts on Capitol Hill. If there are other ways of adding to that effort at parliamentary level or otherwise, we are open to suggestions. We are keen to do all we can in that respect. The changes that will be required will also involve legislative changes. There would be an element of congress involved in this. We have established contacts and we will continue to do that. Ultimately, I argue that what will determine American's fundamental self-interest will be the key issue here. It will be the making of intelligent arguments, which corporate America will make in terms of what is the best interest of America of US multinationals. They need a presence in markets across the globe. They also need to access the brains of the world in other locations and so on. They need to see how that adds to their global profitability.

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