Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is simply untrue. The research being undertaken both at European level and individually in Ireland denies that. The strongest performance of Irish companies is in the US. Enterprise Ireland supports thousands of Irish companies in entering the US market. It has offices across the US. It will take various steps to support any SME that is seeking to expand into that market. It can offer first-time exporter's support and marketing support, for example. If enterprises want to put feet on the ground, they can get support for graduate placement in certain cases and they can access all of Enterprise Ireland's staff in all areas of the US. When those barriers come down, we will be particularly well placed to support Irish SMEs that are seeking to access a very familiar market. We are really well placed to take advantage of this. Enterprise Ireland will be gearing up and working with companies that can penetrate that market. Members will be aware that umpteen companies, including Combilift, McHale Engineering and Keenan of Carlow, are really up and ready. We hope to have a whole new swathe of companies coming in behind them because this is a good market with good contacts for Irish people, not only through Enterprise Ireland but through many other contacts over the years.

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