Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when the terms of reference for the review of the Succeed in Ireland programme will be completed following the recent public consultation; the reason for the delay in finalising this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30515/17]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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4. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the terms of reference for the review of the Succeed in Ireland initiative have been finalised; the number of submissions that were received through the public consultation process; and the timeframe for the review to be completed. [30650/17]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is well aware of the Succeed in Ireland programme, and we have raised the topic in her capacity as Tánaiste on Leaders' Questions. The review is supposed to be ongoing but now seems to be delayed. There are a number of issues around that, including the terms of reference, the appointment of the independent reviewer and the interim arrangement that should transpire. Will the Minister address those in the reply?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 4 together.

As announced previously, my Department will soon be commissioning an independent review of the Succeed in Ireland programme. That review, which will be carried out after details of the initiative’s full and final costs are available, will equip us with a thorough understanding of the programme’s results and its contribution to employment generation in the State. This is in the interests of good governance and ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.

The Deputy knows that on 20 April, my Department launched a public consultation calling for observations on the draft terms of reference for that review. The consultation period ended on 26 May. We received 17 different submissions that are now being examined. The responses we received came from a broad range of stakeholders, including public representatives and the public. Many of the submissions provided general observations on the Succeed in Ireland initiative and its perceived strengths. Others provided specific observations on the draft terms of references themselves. They will all guide us in the approach ahead. There has been no delay in finalising the terms of reference. We are completing the examination of all the responses to the public consultation, which will help, as I have indicated, to shape the final text.

I acknowledge that the Succeed in Ireland initiative has contributed to the Government’s ongoing efforts to win more foreign direct investment, FDI, and jobs for the people of this country. Securing more FDI will remain a key priority of mine as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I look forward to working with agencies to attract more overseas investment and employment to Ireland. We are all committed to that goal.

I hope what has arisen between IDA Ireland and ConnectIreland can see a resolution as soon as possible. I will make any efforts I can in that regard. There have been some legal efforts and I hope they will come to a conclusion and we will be able to go ahead with the review.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to point out at the outset that ConnectIreland has told us that legal action was never taken between the two parties. There was a dispute and that is not at issue. For IDA Ireland to allege there was legal action and to seek to hide behind the veil of impending court proceedings was very disingenuous. We must be very honest. IDA Ireland is not above questioning or scrutiny, and in this instance it has acted quite dishonourably. Its representatives refused to come before the committee on which Deputy Quinlivan and I sit, which really equates to them giving two fingers to the Oireachtas. The way it has handled a number of its interactions with ConnectIreland is very regrettable.

Is there any way the Minister could facilitate the continuation of the programme while this process is under way, perhaps by means of an interim contract? We have been offered different legal advice from what IDA Ireland proffered, indicating there is no impediment to offering an interim contract. Would the Minister go as far as to have the Attorney General, the Government's legal adviser, look at this? It would be very important not to lose the momentum because ConnectIreland is delivering. IDA Ireland has backtracked on some of the statistics offered in a previous debate and it has acknowledged that ConnectIreland has delivered far more than IDA Ireland had previously stated.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am somewhat constrained in what I can say about this because it is essentially a dispute between the two bodies. There is a difference of opinion as to how many jobs the contract has delivered, the verification process and other details in the operation of the contract. I am hopeful the dispute will be settled in a mutually acceptable way for both sides, and I expect both sides to try to come to a resolution on this. It is in the interests of both organisations and I pay tribute to them. I pay tribute to IDA Ireland for what it has done over the years and the amount of FDI brought here, and I pay tribute to ConnectIreland for the work it has done in recent years. It is unfortunate this dispute has arisen, as I am sure the Deputy will agree. We need to resolve this before we speak about another contract or decide on the future of the scheme. We need to do a proper review and have those terms of reference. Until we know the costs, detail and precise information on the scheme, it would be difficult to go ahead with that. I appeal to both sides to come to a resolution on this in order that we can draw a line under it and then decide the future of such a scheme.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister publish the submissions received by the Department, as to my knowledge they have not been made available publicly? Will she finalise the terms of reference, as we are dealing with interim terms of reference? The review is supposed to be independent of the Department as well as IDA Ireland and ConnectIreland. Where are we with that review? There seems to be drift. We got past the end of the contract date, when we last raised this and there seemed to be a bit of stonewalling coming from IDA Ireland and the Department, although the Minister was not there at the time. That was so we would get to the point where the contract had expired. There has been much momentum built up and many leads in the pipeline, but we are letting a really good opportunity slide by, all on the basis that IDA Ireland is the golden boy. I am calling out IDA Ireland on its treatment of ConnectIreland, which has been reprehensible. It feels threatened by ConnectIreland, although it should not. IDA Ireland must be bigger than that. We should bear in mind that the Succeed in Ireland initiative addressed the Dublin regional imbalance by bringing in the smaller type of clients that IDA Ireland does not target.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I have given the Deputy the number of submissions to the Department. I will check if the people who made submissions were advised as to whether they would be public or private, but if it is feasible to publish them, I have no objection to it. It might be helpful for people to see those submissions. I will certainly check it out and revert to the Deputy on that.

We need every initiative coming from our diaspora around the world to help us with FDI. If a successful model can be found and will continue to work, or if the existing model could be adapted somewhat, that should come about. That would compliment the work of IDA Ireland. I stand by the work IDA Ireland does. It is unfortunate this position arose, and I certainly want to see it resolved if there is anything I or my Department can do. There is no delay with this.

I am very keen that this is brought to a conclusion so that we can move on. The Deputy rightly says there is scope for initiatives such as this and I pay tribute to everyone involved. We need all these jobs.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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What about the independent review?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There is no decision on that yet but the person will be independent and as soon as I have made a decision, I will inform the House.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I agree with the comments of Deputy Niall Collins about IDA Ireland, whose conduct in this debacle has been disgraceful, as has the way it has treated Connect Ireland and the Succeed in Ireland project. There is no legal dispute, despite what IDA Ireland states. IDA Ireland failed to come before the jobs committee when we requested it to come, citing a legal case which I do not believe existed. The debacle with Connect Ireland and the Succeed in Ireland initiative really puzzles me and I highlighted my frustration on this issue with the previous Minister on a number of occasions. This is a job creation scheme that used our diaspora across the world to bring jobs to Ireland, the majority of which were to small towns where IDA Ireland clients do not operate or locate. The Connect Ireland team has established a network of 89,652 connectors in 147 countries and I agree with the figure it gives for jobs created of 2,822. The creation of these jobs costs the State substantially less than an IDA Ireland-created job, with the cost being €4,000 per job as opposed to €10,500 for those created by IDA Ireland. If no jobs were created, it would have cost the State nothing. In what world would it make sense to shut this down? I urge the Minister to re-examine the initiative as it is a worthwhile programme operated at low cost with huge economic benefits to the State.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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We should acknowledge that the work IDA Ireland has done in recent years to attract foreign direct investment has been very impressive. The results can be seen and there is a pipeline of very good projects in companies which want to invest in Ireland, some of which I have already met. It is unfortunate that a dispute has arisen. IDA Ireland received clear advice about appearing before the committee and that, until there was a legal resolution, its representatives would not be in a position to do so. They are happy to talk to the committee generally about their programmes, however.

I discussed the terms of reference for the review and the Deputy made available various statistics. We have to look at what the precise figures are and to look at the costs and I agree with Deputy Collins about the need for an independent review. That is the intention. I hope that, possibly through arbitration, we can come to a resolution that is satisfactory to both sides.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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Can the submissions that have been made be published? They should be published if they can be. I appreciate that a review is ongoing but how long will it take? This project was shut down in March and there is no legal impediment to the Department providing a bridging contract until a new tender is won. I have concerns about how the review was conducted from the start. I sent a parliamentary question to the Minister this morning and was not happy with her response. We were contacted to be told there was no email address for submissions on the website. The website has been down for a number of weeks and no submissions have been published. Nobody is dissing IDA Ireland but we are expressing our concern about the way it has treated Connect Ireland. IDA Ireland has not acted responsibly.

As the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was examining the Succeed in Ireland initiative, we were provided with the number of jobs created, to guide members on the effectiveness of the programme. Connect Ireland provided a much larger number of jobs, at over 2,000, but IDA Ireland disputed this figure, stating that only 535 were created and that a portion had not yet been verified. The day after the Succeed in Ireland programme was shut down, a number of jobs were verified so they could not be included in official tallies or for the committee's consideration, making the programme seem less successful than it had been. When will the review be published?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I would like to see the review. We need to get resolution first so that we have all the details and can move on to do the review. I understand from IDA that, to date, the Succeed in Ireland programme, operated by Connect Ireland, has generated approved projects with the potential to deliver 2,831 jobs, of which 575 have been verified as delivered on the ground with a further five, notified in this quarter, awaiting verification. IDA Ireland pays Connect Ireland for each job delivered on the ground. I hope that, once we decide on the terms of reference, the review can be done because we need it to be done and published so that we can move on from this incident between the two bodies.