Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I am glad the Deputy appreciates there is FDI investment in his constituency. He will, therefore, be acutely aware of the implications this decision has for his constituency, not to mention Ireland. On the occasion of the Taoiseach's visit to the US, he mentioned this issue to President Obama. I met Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Geithner and we had a 35-minute discussion on a number of issues but this was the primary reason I met him. I also met my opposite number in the Department of Labor and Ron Kirk to discuss these issues. I then took the opportunity over a day to meet a number of the key leaders in the US Senate and Congress and members of the ways and means committee, which will make the final determination on Capitol Hill.

I, along with all my ministerial colleagues who travel to the US, will continue to raise this issue. I also met representatives of a number of corporations on my two visits to the US and we are working with them in the US and in Ireland. We have always had the number one tax experts in the US. They have worked with the IDA and will continue to do so and we have redeployed a senior executive from the IDA to work exclusively on this.

This is a hugely important issue and we will continue to use every avenue available through corporate America, through our corporate presence here and the platform we have here and at political level. A congressional delegation will travel to Ireland in the summer and it was my clear intention in speaking with Congressman Neal that we would have a further opportunity to develop the issue and I am sure Members will do likewise.

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