Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 233: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if there is a section within his Department's set up to promote opportunities for Irish businesses to export to China and for investment into this country from China; the number of persons in his Department who work on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15678/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department's strategies for promoting exports and winning inward investment have been remarkably successful. A tailored approach has been developed in each of our priority markets to ensure the most effective return in terms of export growth and inward investment, from the resources at my disposal.

This involves the enterprise development agencies taking the lead on the practical arrangements needed to help exporters and to promote Ireland as a prime location for inward investment. Some of this activity involves both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland having offices in key locations in priority markets so they can help exporters on the ground and be a single point of local contact to promote foreign direct investment..

This direct involvement in our key markets has worked well. It is a well proven and a more preferable approach to growing our trade and investment agenda than providing dedicated units in my Department for each priority market. By their very nature, country specific promotion units located in Dublin would be far too removed from the essential local market connections necessary to grow trade and investment opportunities.

However, new arrangements have been put in place so that market plans for all our priority markets are regularly considered by the Export Trade Council on which I and a number of Ministers participate. This provides the opportunity for considerable joined up evaluation and planning across Government to promote every facet of trade, tourism and investment in each of our global priority markets. Furthermore there are a range of actions set out in the Government's Action Plan for Jobs to encourage and support firmer economic ties with China. This also includes help for businesses that might not be existing clients of the agencies but that might have a compelling export proposal.

My staff and those in the agencies provide a range of generic business focussed or policy supports to enterprise. Many of these would be important to exporters and support stronger connections with China, but are equally relevant to other markets as well. Consequently, it is not possible to provide details, across both my Department and its agencies, of the numbers involved in promoting trade and investment with China.

However I can say that Enterprise Ireland has 3 offices in China with a staff complement of 10 and IDA Ireland has 2 offices located there employing 4. In addition each agency has a number of staff with considerable experience of China in addition to some that are Chinese speakers.

Following my forthcoming trade mission to China this week with An Taoiseach I propose, in conjunction with my Cabinet colleagues, to review the arrangements for coordinating our focus on trade and investment with China.