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Minister Donohoe travels to the US to discuss jobs, the economy, global trade & immigration

3 day visit to Boston & Washington includes meetings at the World Bank, the IMF, the prestigious MIT and the White House

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, is in the US this week, to undertake a programme which includes a meeting at the White House in Washington, where he will also visit the World Bank and the IMF. Minister Donohoe will also travel to Boston where he will meet with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, as well as visiting MIT and engaging with the Irish immigrant community (itinerary below).

On what will be a three day intensive trip to the US, Minister Donohoe will visit the White House where he will meet with Mick Mulvaney, the incoming Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).The OMB is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States and is responsible for the production of the President's annual budget. This meeting will provide an excellent opportunity for the Minister to engage with the incoming US Administration at a most senior level.

While there, Minister Donohoe will also visit the World Bank, where he will meet with the Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean constituency, Christine Hogan, among others. At the meeting he will be briefed on the current issues prominent on the World Bank’s agenda.

A meeting will also take place at the IMF with Nancy Horsman, Executive Director at the Bank, and with the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, where Minister Donohoe will get an update on the Bank’s global economic outlook.

In Boston, Minister Donohoe will visit MIT, where he will meet with Nobel Laureate in Economics,
Professor Bob Merton. He will engage in a ‘fireside chat’ with lecturers and students where he will address the topic of ‘Political Leadership in Challenging Times’. He will also attend a Global Business of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics class at MIT.

At MIT, Minister Donohoe will also meet with the founder of FabLabs, which began as an outreach innovation project at the University. FabLabs has made its way to Ireland in recent year and in December Minister Donohoe visited the cross community FabLabs project in Derry, which is supported by EU funds.

He will host meetings with the IDA and EI to discuss job creation with our enterprise agencies there and will visit the Irish International Immigrant Centre, also in Boston.

Speaking in advance of the programme, Minister Donohoe said: ‘In this changing world, it is more important than ever that we continue to engage internationally. The opportunity to meet Director Mulvaney, who is a proud Irish American, at the White House will allow Irish American relations to be further strengthened and for an insight to be gained, for both sides, into the other’s budgetary priorities and management of Government funds. Similarly, meetings with the World Bank, whose goal is to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity, and the IMF, offer a chance for the Irish Government’s perspective on the global economy to be presented’.

“Links between the US and Ireland are deep and far-reaching. Economically speaking, the US is Ireland’s largest source of inward investment, accounting for around 70% of all inward FDI. Furthermore, Enterprise Ireland estimates that there are more than 430 Irish companies in the US, covering all 50 states, and employing more than 80,000 people. Ministerial engagement with our enterprise agencies is crucial to assessing their performance on the ground and seeing what supports are needed to ensure their continued future success. Finally, a visit to the Irish International Immigrant Centre will provide an opportunity to learn about the work they are doing to assist our migrant community.”

Itinerary:

Tuesday, 21st & Wednesday, 22nd February:
· Breakfast briefing with IDA and EI
· Visit to the Irish International Immigrant Centre, Boston
· Meetings at MIT & lunch with Irish researchers


Thursday, 23rd February:
· White House meeting with Mick Mulvaney, incoming Director, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
· Meeting at the World Bank
· Meeting at the IMF