Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No 307 of 23 February 2010 in which he indicated that it is intended to use the Irish Ambassador's residence in Ottawa, a building on which his Department just spent $7 million renovating, as an amenity to promote trade with Ireland, if a strategy to maximise the return to the taxpayer has been put in place including a schedule of events in terms of presentations by State agencies and Irish companies and so on; and if so, if he will provide this Deputy with a list of same. [13298/10]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question number 307 of 23 February 2010, in which he indicates that it is intended to use the Irish Ambassador's residence in Ottawa, Canada, a building on which his Department just spent $7 million renovating, as an amenity to promote trade with Ireland, if his Department developed and considered detailed projections on the scale of the return that the taxpayer can expect on their investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13297/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 127 together.

Ireland has strong commercial and business linkages with Canada. Total trade (manufacturing and services) between Ireland and Canada in 2008 was valued at more than €1.6 billion. The first ten months of 2009 saw a 12 % increase in this trade. Canada is also a key tourism market for Ireland with 108,000 Canadians visiting Ireland in 2008.

Further development of Ireland's economic interests in Canada is a key priority for the Embassy in Ottawa. To this end, the Embassy works closely with the state agencies and in particular with the Enterprise Ireland office in Toronto, to support their activities in Canada and to grow and develop our bilateral economic relationship. The Embassy also works with individual companies seeking to enter the Canadian market and provides assistance to Irish companies in relation to market access issues. The Embassy and the Residence are used for this purpose and are available to the state agencies and their clients to assist them in developing their business in Canada.

The renovated Residence in Ottawa is now in operation and represents a valuable asset for the State and a resource in the consolidation and enhancement of our important relationship with Canada with whom we also have many shared foreign policy values.

A key promotional focus for the Embassy every year is St Patrick's Day. This year, the Embassy hosted a reception, at the Ambassador's Residence, for up to 500 people including senior political and business representatives.

An important element of the evening was the ability to promote, including through audiovisual display, the work of Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA.

A number of Irish food and drinks products were also showcased. The Ambassador's Residence is the ideal location for this type of promotional work and is extremely cost effective by comparison with other possible options such as a hotel.

The Embassy will continue to work closely with the State agencies and the private sector and has a number of trade development activities in planning for the remainder of the year.

I am confident that through assiduous use of the new resources and a cohesive approach to trade, tourism and investment promotion, the investment made in our representation in Canada, which is the world's seventh largest economy, will yield a positive result.