Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

-----according to the World Bank; Ireland's stock of direct inward investment is five times greater than the OECD average; our competitiveness has significantly improved; we have clusters of the world's leading multinational companies, and continue to attract high levels of investment. Almost 1,000 companies, including household names such as IBM, Google, eBay and Facebook, have chosen Ireland as the hub of their European operations.

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