Launching the ICT Ireland strategic document, 'Vision 2006-2009' on Monday, Mr Daly explained that:

"Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe and the foreign investments in the ICT sector are returning very positive returns on investments, both for the country and for the companies who have decided to invest here."

"The ICT sector is a major contributor to the Irish Exchequer, contributing annually in excess of EUR629 million in Corporation Tax and EUR1.682 billion in PAYE & PRSI contributions. In relative terms, this contribution would fund 20% of Ireland’s ongoing health spend or 33% of our education spend on primary, secondary and third level."

He went on to add:

"We believe that Ireland offers a straightforward and open tax model, which contributes to the prosperity of its people and which has been key to the country’s economic success. Other countries are free to harmonise taxes downwards to what we have: there is no argument for Ireland to go back to formulae that do not work."

"However, to focus on tax alone is only part of the story. The ICT sector employs over 100,000 people and as the global environment evolves, we are seeing the creation of higher value add jobs in areas, like R+D and Marketing. Progressive tax policies aside, Ireland continues to be an attractive location, thanks to the skills of the workforce, a good ICT infrastructure and our ability to attract foreign talent."

He concluded by observing that:

"One challenge we face is ensuring we have a rich pool of talent available to us. The other is to accelerate the pace at which the indigenous part of the sector develops and builds scale. We also need to ensure that ICT companies in Ireland engage in more R&D and get closer to their final customer."