Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he has taken to combat job relocation from here to more competitive economies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15606/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Vibrant, successful and growing economies have strong flows of capital investment as firms decide where it is optimum to invest and locate different aspects of their value chain. In this context and with the extending influence of globalisation, every major economy of the European Union experiences both inflows and outflows of plants and jobs. There will always be changes to firms' production capacity as companies react to market signals or changing circumstances in their individual product sectors.

The Irish economy is no different from other developed economies. However, what sets us apart is our ability to replace lost jobs with alternative skilled and rewarding employment.

Our best response to the realities of globalisation is to ensure that Ireland remains attractive for investment from increasingly higher value added products and services, and for broad based enterprise growth. Enterprise support policies have consistently evolved to meet the needs of both foreign direct investment and growth orientated indigenous firms. This flexible and adaptable approach to sustaining a competitive enterprise environment will not change.