There is a commitment in the programme for Government to increase employment levels in the regions and in rural Ireland by more than 100,000 jobs. It took long enough to negotiate the programme. One of the greatest success stories in that regard has been the work of ConnectIreland, which works as part of the Succeed in Ireland programme. However, the draft terms of reference for an independent review of Succeed in Ireland on the departmental website today are deeply unsatisfactory. Why are the IDA and the Department so determined to undermine the huge success of ConnectIreland and its work in bringing jobs to rural Ireland? Is there a vendetta? Is it a battle for control with the IDA? ConnectIreland has had excellent success rates. The IDA should be reined in. The website is disgraceful.

I believe in ConnectIreland and engaged with it in a very detailed way to get it set up. The theory was that people working abroad for different companies, which were considering investing in Europe, would ask that the companies consider investing in Ireland. If they did decide to invest in Ireland there would be a reward fee for the director to the country here, provided that the jobs were sustainable and that they actually became a reality. It has worked reasonably well in small areas that would not be the focus of the IDA. While it might provide four, ten or 20 jobs in those areas, they had the potential to grow. There were discussions between ConnectIreland and the IDA. There was the question of re-tendering contracts. I cannot provide the up-to-date detail as of today but I will find out. The plan was worth following. It has produced a number of jobs, perhaps not as many as expected, but nonetheless it was important for rural Ireland.