Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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361. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will account for the reduced level in the Irish indigenous tradeable services export sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28710/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise Ireland data for its client companies shows that, in fact, in 2014 the value of exports in internationally traded services increased by €106 million, or 7%, to €1,687 million. This sector is a vital component in Ireland’s export performance. The Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, through Enterprise Ireland, is active both in assisting Irish indigenous companies to find new markets and to increase their existing level of market share. At the heart of our jobs plan is supporting more exports, and we have put in place a range of measures to deliver on this, including doubling the number of trade missions, placing extra staff for Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in overseas markets and tax incentives for firms to place more staff overseas to help win sales.

The CSO Balance of Payments statistics do not separately identify Irish indigenous enterprises, but their data for services exports for Irish and non-Irish enterprises shows these to have increased steadily annually, except for a slight slow-down in 2008 and 2009. In 2014, for the first time ever, overall services exports from Ireland exceeded €100 bn.