Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will raise the issue with the new Minister in the Department, but it is important to point out that ConnectIreland's original business model did not provide a viable return for the operator and subsequently needed to be altered. A contracting arrangement was put in place and financial support provided. We need to assess what happened with the business model, whether it was returning what was expected of it under the contractual arrangements in place and whether it is the best way of spending public money to get the return the Deputy and I both want, namely, more Irish people coming home and bringing jobs and ideas with them. There is no dispute on that issue. The only issue concerns the need for a robust, independent assessment of the story of ConnectIreland and the Succeed in Ireland initiative and to learn lessons from it. If the initiative has a role to play in the future, I would be comfortable with it. If it does not, so be it. We must ensure there are other ways to do what we wanted to do with the initiative, but that question should be the subject of the independent assessment that is under way.

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