Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister to provide more detail on the question of meeting the 20% target. He has said IDA Ireland is "confident" that it will be achieved, but it only has two weeks in which to do so. Is there any monitoring by the Department of IDA Ireland in reaching the target?

On the 35 new staff recruited, I notice that the BRIC markets are well down the priority list. While I welcome the investment in North America, we already have a very strong and successful presence there. Is there merit in placing the greater proportion of the additional staff in the growing markets, that is, the BRIC countries, rather than in ones in which we are very well covered? The President has just concluded a very successful visit to China, to where I know that there have been a lot of trade missions. However, the key to success, particularly in China but also in the other BRIC markets, is having a presence and active and ongoing engagement. While high profile visits are very beneficial and often very successful, we need boots on the ground constantly. In the context of the aforementioned 35 new staff, should the emphasis be on the BRIC countries?

See this speech in context