“I am delighted with the leadership being shown by the Lord Mayor of Dublin City Council in organising a summit between the Council and the business community," Mr Lenihan announced, going on to state:

"I am fully supportive of this proposal and I am confident that this initiative will develop a marketing plan for Dublin to attract development to the city. This is an excellent example of local government putting forward measures to increase sustainable economic development in its area."

Lenihan observed that at the local government level Dublin City Council is also making many other positive improvements to the City, under initiatives such as the Business Improvement District Scheme, which provides a valuable link between local government and the business sector.

Dublin has become an increasingly attractive place to locate regional and corporate headquarters in recent years, thanks largely to efforts to regenerate the city and a highly attractive corporate tax regime which, at 12.5%, remains one of the world's lowest.

This has been demonstrated by the recent flurry of announcements by large UK-based companies such as Shire and United Business Media that they intended to re-domicile for tax purposes in Ireland.

Dublin has also been at the forefront of Ireland's economic resurgence over the last decade or more, which has been led by a surge in foreign direct investment, notably from US companies.

According to the latest annual report by IDA Ireland, the government's investment promotion body, there were 114 major new FDI projects in 2007, and IDA-supported companies in 2007 paid almost EUR3bn in corporate tax, accounting for 47% of the total corporate tax intake.

“I am confident that the combination of Dublin’s characteristics and the actions of local and national government will further increase economic development in our city so as to benefit all," Lenihan continued.

"The proactive lead taken by Dublin City Council shows the importance of local and national government acting together to foster the economic development of Dublin as a national gateway to the global economy," he concluded.