Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

I did not say that. The Deputy should not misrepresent what I am saying.

My constituency in County Limerick has benefited enormously from foreign direct investment and the good, sustainable jobs that have derived from it such as those in Kostal and Wyeth. Just outside my constituency, Analog Devices and Johnson & Johnson have provided many valuable jobs for constituents of mine and continue to do so.

In the midst of all the doom and gloom about the recession, which is, as we know, affecting Europe and the rest of the world, there is an interesting statistic that exports in this country have fallen by about 5%, in contrast with the rest of the EU, where they have fallen by about 20%. From that perspective we can see the valuable input of our foreign direct investors and manufacturing companies. Our exports are holding to a degree of -5%, which is relatively good compared with other areas. The job losses at Dell were unfortunate, but we must ask why this happened. The answer is simple, namely, our competitiveness has suffered.

The CEO of Enterprise Ireland recently appeared at the Committee of Public Accounts, where he said that we must move away from our manufacturing base. However, I do not entirely agree with this view. We should not just throw our hands up. We must address the issue of competitiveness. It is a fact that the establishment of the preclearance facility and the restoration of competitiveness for the region go hand in hand. I compliment the Government and the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, on their honest endeavours in this regard. The pulling together of this deal with the US authorities will result in many benefits for the region. For example, it will afford the opportunity for State agencies that are marketing the region and the country to have a captive audience of business people and promoters who are passing through the region. It will also provide increased traffic and open up the possibility of bringing new airlines to the region. Shannon Airport is a tremendous facility.

It is also worth noting that the arrangement between Ireland and the US authorities is the only such arrangement in Europe. As Ireland is an island nation on the periphery of Europe, this will be extremely important in enhancing our competitiveness. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is a job well done.

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