Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to note, in the context of the Deputy's references to the IFSC Clearing House Group, that our offering is a whole of Ireland offering. It is not just about Dublin anymore or a particular geographic location north of the Liffey. We are talking here about IFS 2020. When one looks at the offering in terms of employment, one third of the jobs, which are increasing from 35,000 to 45,000, are located outside of Dublin.

Just before Easter the Department of Finance, as part of its Brexit preparations, had a round table with financial services entities in this country and as part of that dialogue we talked about the risks and opportunities in financial services. Presentations were give by various chambers of commerce around Ireland as to the offerings that they provide in the Brexit context, to make sure that we can get on top of all the possibilities that we now think are coming. In Deputy McGrath's own constituency, Connect Cork has been doing an excellent job not just here in Ireland but also in London and other overseas locations. I had the opportunity recently to go out with Connect Cork to talk about the offering there.

The Central Bank has increased its resources to deal with the increased interest that has come its way. It has released a number of statements recently about the changes it has made which have been received very positively. The Deputy also referred to office space. Approximately 3.5 million sq. ft. of office space is currently under development, 1 million sq. ft. of space is under refurbishment and planning permission has been granted for a further 5 million sq. ft. of office space in Dublin. However, there is also huge potential for office space outside of Dublin. In Cork, for example, approximately 1 million sq. ft. of office space is almost ready to go and will be available to new firms coming in. Deputy McGrath will be interested to know that we recently had a couple of positive announcements concerning financial services in Cork.

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