Minister for Trade and Development welcomes Enterprise Ireland’s end-of-year statement

Mr Joe Costello T.D., Minister for Trade and Development, has welcomed Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) end-of- year statement which confirms that notwithstanding the very challenging global circumstances they faced this year, Irish companies have managed to achieve record levels of exports.

The Minister particularly welcomed EI’s estimates that the final export figures for Irish companies will exceed the pre-recession record levels of 2008 and that ‘New export sales’ in excess of €1 billion are expected to be recorded for 2011.

“These figures confirm that the Government’s strategy to support an export led recovery is the right one” said Minister Costello. “I am determined in my new capacity as Minister for Trade, to continue to maximise every opportunity to support Irish companies doing business overseas.” The Minister also said that he looked forward to participating in the Government’s Export Trade Council and to leading a number of trade missions to some of our key export markets.