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

I can. There is an agreement and we would not tolerate a situation where Enterprise Ireland might subsidise one company and IDA Ireland another, both of which would be competing for taxpayers' money. That would be unthinkable, but that is not to say Enterprise Ireland does not talk to companies that are internationalising and which may also have Irish business. It is fine to talk to companies that are competing for domestic contracts, but we do not support them in any fashion. As the Deputy knows, a number of international companies won business here and then grew international businesses from an Irish base, which is very positive. Naturally, IDA Ireland is in consultation with companies that win business in Ireland and wants to see them develop an Irish platform to win European or wider international business. We have a strict protocol that is applied jointly by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and naturally it has to protect companies in a way that will ensure there will be no unfair competition. That is the way we operate.

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