Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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16. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide a report on the activity of the Enterprise Ireland office in Lyon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2523/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Growing Irish exports into the Eurozone is a key strategic focus of Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland supports companies to start, scale and succeed in international markets. Through Enterprise Ireland’s network of 40 international offices, the agency assisted client companies to increase their exports by providing market intelligence to inform companies’ internationalisation strategies.

France is a key destination for Irish exports, with €1.1 billion of exports to France reported by Enterprise Ireland’s clients in 2019. Key export sectors include Fintech and Services; Industrial; Construction and Cleantech; Engineering and Lifesciences/pharmaceutical. Enterprise Ireland has two offices in France, Paris and Lyon. Enterprise Ireland’s office in Lyon opened in November 2019 as part of the Government ‘Global Ireland’ strategy supporting the acceleration of exporter diversification.

The Lyon office supports Irish companies to expand into the Rhône-Alpes region, particularly in the following areas.

- life sciences

- clean technologies

- engineering.

The Lyon office is actively connecting with buyers in the Rhône-Alpes and linking them to Irish companies to assist them establish and scale the Irish companies in the region. As part of this, Enterprise Ireland Lyon is reaching out to the Irish diaspora in the area and raising the profile of the office among this community. The Lyon office is also working with companies on their future growth strategies in the Rhône-Alpes region through the provision of Market and business intelligence to assist companies entering or scaling in the region.