Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade plays an active role in providing support to Irish companies and promoting foreign earnings opportunities for Irish business, including through the implementation of the Africa Strategy which I launched last year. Last month my colleague, the Minister of State for Trade and Development, Mr. Joe Costello, T.D., launched the ‘Winning Business in Africa’ Report in collaboration with the Irish Business and Employers Confederation. This valuable report focuses on opportunities in energy and renewable energy, infrastructure, water and mining and identifies over 100 projects in African countries, valued at up to €12 billion, for which Irish companies can bid over the next five years. The report included a reference to the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, to which the Deputy refers in his Question. It is a public-private partnership initiated by the Directorate General for Environment and the Directorate General for Europe Aid Cooperation Office (AIDCO) of the European Commission. We do not have specific information on individual applications by Irish companies to this fund. However, more generally, I am pleased to note that trade with Africa continues to grow. Irish exports of goods and services to Africa were valued at over €2.7 billion in 2011 and figures from the Central Statistics Office show an increase of 7% for the first five months of 2012 over the same period last year.