Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, for coming to the House. He is deputising for the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. The Minister could not be more ably deputised.

What I am looking for this morning is that Ireland would open an office in Taipei. It is not setting any precedent. It is only reopening an office that was closed in 2010 or 2011, prior to the crash. We must bear in mind that we have a very similar history to Taiwan in the sense that we were colonised for 800 years. Taiwan has a gigantic neighbour in China, which has made no secret of the fact that it believes Taiwan belongs to it. Yet, Taiwan is a democracy. It has a democratically elected government and has operated as a democracy for a long time, similar to ourselves. The similarities between Ireland and Taiwan are very strong, not just in terms of our history but also our economy. We have a very skilled high-tech workforce. Eight or nine of the top international tech companies have their European headquarters in Ireland. Similarly, Taipei is one of the world's leaders when it comes to semiconductors. It has a very advanced tech industry. Its population is something around 24 million or 25 million. Economically it is one of the top performers in the world. It does not make any kind of economic sense that Ireland and the IDA do not have an office in Taipei. As a country we should be trying to attract industry and business from Taiwan to Ireland. We must bear in mind that 16 of our European colleague countries have offices in Taipei, all co-ordinated under a European office. Similarly, our nearest neighbour, the UK, has an office in Taipei. Switzerland has an office in Taipei, yet Ireland does not have an office there.

Many delegations have gone from these Houses over the years to Taiwan and have benefited enormously from their very generous hospitality. There has been an awful lot of talk and commitments by people who went there that a lot would be done to open an IDA office in Taipei. I was there once. Members of these Houses were there on multiple occasions, yet we have not seen any delivery of the one simple ask of the Taipei ambassador to Ireland and his team and the government in Taipei when the delegations visit, which is that we would open an office there. It is a simple request. It makes economic sense and it is the right thing to do. I hope the Minister and the IDA would see the economic merit and the business case for opening an office. It has been sought many times. I would like to know the reason for it. I sincerely hope the reason is not because pressure is being put on by the Chinese ambassador and government not to do so. That would not be appropriate and it would not chime with our history as a small nation that was colonised by a big country for many years. Of course, it would never be officially said but I sincerely hope it is not the reason either officially or unofficially, covertly or overtly.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator very much. On behalf of the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke, I am delighted to take this matter and to have the opportunity to reply to the Senator.

Foreign direct investment, FDI, continues to be one of the key components of the Irish economy. The Minister is determined that Ireland remains a leading location for FDI. The IDA's mandate is well-known and can be summarised as attracting and retaining mobile foreign direct investment to Ireland in support of well-paid employment opportunities across the country. The IDA's 2025-2029 strategy, Adapt Intelligently, aims to safeguard and grow Ireland's existing FDI alongside a continued focus on winning new investment. This dual focus on partnering with existing clients and attracting new first-time investors is an important context when considering trade development and market diversification. In this regard, the strategy seeks to build on the IDA's success to date, supporting continued long-term investment through the transformation of the existing client base and leveraging new opportunities associated with FDI growth drivers of AI and digital, semiconductors, sustainability and health. They echo the focus and ambition of the programme for Government in addition to the national strategy on semiconductors and the forthcoming life sciences strategy, which are all designed to underpin the future of these key sectors and position Ireland for new investment opportunities.

The IDA is retaining its focus on new growth opportunities across its core sectors and territories and continues to target investment from clients originating from North America, Europe, the UK and Asia-Pacific within technology, content, consumer and business services, international financial services, pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals and food, medical technologies and engineering and the green economy. Market analysis shows that the majority, approximately 60%, of all Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, and Taiwan outward FDI is intra-Asia and approximately 60% of all FDI into Europe from the region originates in Singapore. Taiwan is a distant second. IDA Ireland actively manages the Taiwanese market from its Singapore office as part of its ASEAN market development plan. In this context, the IDA does not have any immediate plans to open an office in Taiwan and will continue to service the market from its regional office in Singapore.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. That was not the answer I was expecting or wanted. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, to review this and come back to us with the business case for not opening it? Why was the office there in the first place? When it was closed, it was simply because of cutbacks. There was no other reason. That was the reason given at the time. It does not make business sense. IDA Ireland is charged with channelling its resources in the way it considers to be most efficient, but there needs to be some ministerial intervention to ask it to review this decision and come back to us with a short snappy rejustification of why this is not required. The justification in that answer is not sufficient so it needs to rejustify it and that can only be done with a proper, effective, short, snappy review.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for the strong, passionate and well-argued argument he made in favour of this. I will take the opportunity to convey his views directly to the Minister, Deputy Burke, to make sure he is aware of the Senator's contribution this morning and give him the opportunity, which I have no doubt he will take, to engage further with the Senator on this. I thank the Senator.