Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 24: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the work being undertaken by her Department to increase the number of exports made by Irish owned companies. [41955/08]

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Government is strongly supportive of Irish exporting firms working to increase their level of exports on world markets. My Department, through Enterprise Ireland, is active both nationally at the developmental local level and, through promotional activities carried out from a range of locations abroad, in assisting Irish indigenous companies to find new markets for their products and services and to increase their existing level of market share. Through its network of 32 international offices, Enterprise Ireland creates and implements successful strategies for market entry, development and growth in overseas markets. These activities include:

Arranging access to international buyers and increasing in-market trade promotion activities,

Increasing the number of overseas missions, raising the level of participation at trade shows and increasing the number and quality of incoming buyers,

Seeking to ensure increased international media coverage of the range of product and service providers in Ireland and the benefits of doing business here,

Continuing to increase the number of incubation centres in key overseas markets, thus providing a low cost market entry mechanism for company clients with strong potential.

In this work, close coordination is maintained with other agencies, such as An Bord Bia and with relevant non-governmental bodies. Enterprise Ireland is also assisted by our Irish Embassies abroad, in facilitating the development of export markets for Irish exporting companies.

Both myself and my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan T.D., have been active in leading trade missions organised by Enterprise Ireland. We will continue to do so, to both existing long-established markets, to the new EU Member States and also to Asia and other emerging markets, with a view to increasing the share of exports by Irish companies on the world market.

In January of this year, the then Taoiseach Mr. Bertie Ahern led a trade mission to South Africa. Last month, I accompanied Taoiseach Brian Cowen on a trade mission to China. A total of 94 companies participated in the China mission and it is estimated that new export sales of €65m were generated during that event.

Research by Forfás has established that in 2007 the value of exports by Irish owned manufacturing and internationally traded services companies, which are supported by Enterprise Ireland, was €11.8 billion, which represented an increase of 8% on the previous year.