Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I give the Deputy credit for the global economic forum which he held in Farmleigh. It was innovative and brought together a concentration of important people to examine how Ireland might use its global connections for economic development, including exports and job creation. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, has decided to hold a second forum in October, which will probably involve a larger number of interests from abroad. It will focus more on the consequences of working through the ideas and proposals that are brought forward. The forum that Deputy Martin organised was important as it was the first of its kind. I think he might agree, however, that the conclusions might perhaps have been worked through to a far greater extent. That is where the focus of the next one will be, although I am not decrying the Deputy's initiative. Having spoken to those in attendance, I know they would like to see a greater follow through on the ideas that were raised and, therefore, the emphasis will be on how best we can obtain actual results from ideas and proposals.

I met with quite a number of those people in New York and Washington DC. One of them made the point to me that they would all like to be ambassadors for this country. The challenge for Ireland is to be able to use that diaspora resource so that when they are speaking to business people or other worldwide interests, they will be informed about the opportunities that exist here. I also met with a number of banking and other commercial interests which are in the process of engaging with the Industrial Development Authority concerning decisions to locate in Europe. A number of these interests are considering Ireland, but the Deputy will appreciate that I cannot give details. It is not for me to make the final decision on their behalf, but we were strong in putting forward the view that they should invest in Ireland.

It is appropriate that we should discuss how best we can make an impact on trade promotion and the economy generally. There is no difficulty between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs has responsibility for trade promotion, while trade policy remains with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is anxious that every embassy will have senior personnel working with the ambassador in the interests of trade promotion.

The number of forthcoming trade missions has not yet been finally decided. I have received a request to go to China and while we have agreed to that in principle, it is a matter for the Chinese authorities as to when they have appropriate dates that are suitable. I raised this matter with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, when he was here and when I met him in London recently. Given the resources they have, the British Government has made a conscious decision to expand trade promotion and work actively in that regard. It is also supportive of the opportunities for Ireland in that respect. We will focus on this area in so far as our resources facilitate us to do so. There is no difficulty concerning the division of responsibilities in the Departments. I will advise the Deputy when the trade promotion delegations are finalised.

Sometimes people think that if a very large delegation travels abroad it makes a proportionately bigger impact, but from my experience I do not think so. Depending on how far east one goes, a smaller number of chief executives might command more respect and opportunity than having a large delegation. In either event, we are interested in opening doors and keeping those opportunities very much alive.

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