Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. It is clear from the subtext that the Government is looking positively at making an application and I appeal to the Minister of State to so do. I am also delighted with the cross-Border dimension. The Minister of State will be aware that this issue was discussed at today's meeting of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment which was attended by MEPs. A consensus emerged which took on board the expertise of the MEPs in respect of dislocation in a number of small enterprises within a region. In this context, I note that 60,000 jobs have been lost throughout the entire BMW region and that up to 900 such losses will take place in Quinn Insurance. If one takes on board the points made by the business leaders from the Quinn catchment area whom I met yesterday in Buswell's Hotel, it appears that unless things change soon, the situation might become more catastrophic. God forbid that this would be the case. This is a serious issue, but the Minister of State's reply has left me with the impression that this will happen. However, I ask him to make it happen quickly.