Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

One of the problems we have with the US is that there is a view out there, especially in America, that it is a one-way street. America thinks that we have all the advantages in the sense that we export quite a large volume of goods, especially in the pharmaceutical area. The point the Tánaiste made that Irish companies have created over 200,000 jobs there indicates that it is very much a two-way process. We need to sell that message a bit more strongly. While we have the EU Presidency, which is not too far away, the point that we can sell is that by having a business in Ireland, you have access to a huge European market. That is extremely important. How are we changing strategy to sell that from an American point of view, to emphasise that it is not just about manufacturing goods to go into America but that there is an opportunity for American companies to be based here in Ireland and to get access to the European market of 460 million people?

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