Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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128. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide the total number of ministerial led trade missions that have taken place as part of St. Patrick's Day festivities since 2011; if he will further provide the country for each of these missions; the names of each business who have operations here who accompanied the respective Minister on each trade mission; the amount of additional business quantifiable in euro terms each business who accompanied the Minister is doing with that country since the trade mission; the total number of businesses the Ministers met with that were potential foreign direct investors here; the total number of these businesses that have subsequently created jobs here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49237/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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St. Patrick’s Day offers a unique opportunity to promote Ireland’s economic and political interests overseas, with levels of publicity and media attention unmatched by the national day of any other country. Ministerial visits around the St. Patrick’s Day period are organised to ensure that we use this exposure to maximise the promotion of Ireland’s trade, tourism and investment interests and to spread a positive message about Ireland’s economic recovery. The proposed programme of Ministerial travel is drawn up by my Department in consultation with the Embassy network and the state agencies and then considered by Government on my recommendation. Each year, Enterprise Ireland also organises a series of trade missions for its client companies, with the active support of my Department’s Embassy network.

Since 2011, there have been 47 Ministerial visits as part of the St. Patrick’s Day programme, (including travel by the Taoiseach and the Attorney General). The following table shows the number of visits each year, the number of countries visited and the number of individual company engagements (to note: the number of visits over the St Patrick’s Day period in 2011 was significantly reduced, due to the timing of the General Election of that year).

Company meetings during St. Patrick’s Day Ministerial visits are a key marketing tool for the state agencies, including the IDA. They provide, at first hand, an opportunity for Ministers to reinforce the Government’s commitment to foreign direct investment as well as policies that highlight Ireland’s competitive operating environment and have contributed to strong FDI growth with the creation of over 12,722 new jobs by IDA client companies in 2012.

As well as individual meetings with companies, the St. Patrick’s Day period is also used to promote trade, tourism and investment at larger business events and to promote Ireland in the international media.

In 2013 for example, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers and Embassy network, together with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and other state agencies promoted trade and investment in Ireland to 101 business events, attended by over 8,500 Irish and international company representatives leading to new leads for Irish exporters and for inward investment to Ireland.

In addition, The Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers and the Embassy network promoted key messages on trade, tourism and investment in op-eds and interviews in the international media – reaching, at a very conservative estimate, over 16.3 million people.

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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129. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide the total number of trade missions he or a Minister for State within his Department have been on since he became Minister; if he will provide the country for each of these missions; the names of each business who have operations here who accompanied him on each trade mission; the amount of additional business quantifiable in euro terms each business who accompanied the Minister is doing with that country since the trade mission; if he will provide the total cost to his Department for each of these trade missions; the total number of businesses the Ministers met with that were potential foreign direct investors here; the total number of these businesses that have subsequently created jobs here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49238/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Trade promotion and economic messaging are key elements in all visits abroad undertaken by myself and the Minister of State for Trade and Development. My visit to China in July of this year, organised by my Department and the Embassy of Ireland in Beijing, in close cooperation with the state agencies, had a strong trade and investment focus including targeted meetings with Chinese companies interested in investing in Ireland and potential partners for Irish exporters, several business networking and investment events, a promotional event with Tourism Ireland and the announcement of the achievement of full market access for Irish salmon to the Chinese market.

Last week, I met with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London on a visit which focused on opportunities for Irish financial services companies. During the visit, I hosted an Enterprise Ireland event for senior executives from thirty Irish technology and financial services companies and their key UK-based clients from the banking, insurance and retail sectors. Organised in close cooperation between the Embassy of Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, the annual event is designed to support Irish software and financial services companies to increase exports to the UK and create jobs in Ireland. It is Enterprise Ireland’s premier financial services sector event in London, where financial services is a key target sector.

Since 2011, I have led several trade-focused visits to the US and the UK as well as individual visits, focusing on trade and economic promotion to China, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Korea, Uganda and Kenya. The then Minister of State for Trade and Development Jan O’Sullivan led a trade-focused visit to Vietnam in 2011 and her successor, Minister of State Joe Costello has led trade-focused visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria and also accompanied the President on his recent visit to Mexico and last year’s visit to South America (Brazil, Argentina and Chile), both of which included a substantial trade focus.

In addition to the visits outlined above, I agree the programme of Enterprise Ireland trade missions each year with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation based on the proposals submitted by Enterprise Ireland and focused on the priority markets of interest to their client companies. Enterprise Ireland Ministerial-led overseas trade missions and events, organised with the active support of my Department’s Embassy network, are an important element of the Government Trade Strategy, which recognises the valuable role they play in developing and creating new trade, tourism and investment opportunities for Ireland.

Ten Enterprise Ireland trade missions have been led by myself and Ministers of State from my Department since the formation of the Government. In 2011, then Minister of State for Trade and Development, Jan O’Sullivan TD led Enterprise Ireland trade missions to Saudi Arabia/Qatar and to South Africa. In 2012, Minister of State Joe Costello led Enterprise Ireland trade missions to Turkey, Russia, Brazil and South Africa. This year, I led an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Turkey and Minister of State Costello has led Enterprise Ireland trade missions to Canada, Belgium and South Africa/Nigeria. Enterprise Ireland does not release the names of companies that accompany Ministers on trade missions as this is commercially sensitive information. The travel and accommodation costs for the travelling Minister and two officials are borne by Enterprise Ireland.

The benefits flowing from such trade missions are realised over time making it difficult to measure accurately the jobs or total exports secured as a result of a specific trade mission. However, Enterprise Ireland provides information on contracts won during trade missions as appropriate. These contracts won and the contacts made during trade missions lead to job creation and long-term economic benefits for Ireland. In 2012, indigenous exports reached a new record level of €16.2 billion and net job creation from inward investment was at its highest in ten years. This level of exports and investment is greatly supported by Ministerial-led trade missions and the continued strong interest from companies in participating demonstrates clearly the value placed on such trade missions.