Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the good news from President Higgins in Australia, from where he confirmed, in an interview with Martin Shanahan of IDA Ireland, that many Australian companies are, because of Brexit, looking to Ireland's mid-west as a potential spot for relocation and expansion, when traditionally their focus would have been on the UK. This development is being described as the boomerang effect, with members of the Irish diaspora in Australia helping these companies with their plans to come to Ireland. I understand up to 45 firms have expressed an interest in locating their business in the mid-west. It is a most welcome development.