Our Chairman, Deputy Breen, has addressed the recommendations contained in the committee's report. I refer in particular to the Ireland House concept, which goes back to 1987. In a reply to a recent parliamentary question, the Tánaiste outlined the value and success of the concept to date, with consulates or embassies in 19 locations overseas. His own Department is represented alongside various statutory agencies. I am sure we can do more in that regard, however. When I visited the Ireland House in New York several years ago, I was heartened to see how Irish officials from different State agencies were working closely together. Savings can be achieved through sharing services and reducing overheads. I acknowledge this is not a straightforward concept because a country's political capital may not be its industrial or business capital but we should attempt to progress it further.

Recently I spoke to an individual with business interests in Malaysia, who pointed out that we have a very small footprint in that country in terms of our embassy and State agencies. The population of Malaysia is almost 30 million and this business person made the claim - I do not know if it is correct - that agency officials are not available to do the follow up legwork required after trade missions. We know the value to be gained from having a Minister lead a trade delegation but the follow up work is also important.

I recognise that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other statutory bodies are challenged by reduced numbers and the moratorium on recruitment. Within the overall public service, however, it is still possible to transfer personnel to key areas that support our economic development and trade interests. Given advances in technology, there are bound to be divisions within the overall public service that could operate with fewer personnel. These individuals could be transferred to trade promotion areas. We could thereby align personnel to emerging needs without increasing the numbers employed in the public service. Ministerial delegations are important to the industries and businesses that participate in them but the follow up work is equally important.

Perhaps the committee should discuss further the division of responsibility for trade between his Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I fail to understand why responsibility for WTO negotiations does not rest with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In regard to international development, which is the responsibility of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Costello, if we are ever going to achieve justice in world trade or offer the support the developing world needs in regard to removing tariff supports, trade and international development Ministers should be participating in WTO talks. This is an area that deserves further consideration and I hope responsibility can transferred.

Similarly, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation participates in meetings of European Union Trade Council. I do not know if it is wise to allocate responsibility in that manner. Responsibility for trade should rest with one Minister to the greatest extent possible. The Tánaiste referred to the strategy on trade, tourism and investment. At the launch of the strategy in September 2010, reference was made to an earlier strategy on trading and investing in the smart economy. That earlier strategy noted clearly that implementation of the measures and actions it proposed would require the concentrated and co-ordinated efforts of all key Departments and agencies, including our embassies and consulates abroad. This concept has, therefore, been around for quite some time and the more impetus we can give to consolidating responsibility for trade with one Minister, the better. Everybody could argue differently about the allocation of responsibilities between Departments but this is an area that should be revisited. Departments are good at defending their realms because they do not want to lose responsibilities.

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