199 Mr. Leonard asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the current position in relation to the alliances between Irish and US companies further to his reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 50 and 57 of 3 December 1996. [11242/97]

Although discussions are continuing between a number of Irish and US participants in relation to potential strategic alliances, none has been finalised since my previous response to the Deputy last December. This is not untypical since, of their nature, such strategic alliances take considerable time to bring to fruition.