Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland, IDA, and Irish embassy to work from new shared hub in London
Ireland will look to establish a new cross-agency hub in London for the first time under plans going to Cabinet on Tuesday.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s plan will see Ireland’s embassy and agencies come together under one roof, incorporating the Embassy of Ireland and three State agencies — Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland, and IDA Ireland — on a single site in central London.
The lease for the new site will be signed following due diligence under the Public Spending Code, with no figure yet available for how much the rental might cost.
The UK accounted for 10% of the IDA’s client portfolio in 2022, and trade totalled €93.5bn in 2021. The UK is also the largest export market for Irish food and drink for Bord Bia and its clients.
Since 2018, Irish food and drink exports have increased by almost a fifth to €5.3bn.
It is understood that a site in central London has been earmarked but that a committee will oversee the establishment of the new Ireland House, the 22nd across the globe.
• Meanwhile, Education Minister Norma Foley will bring a memo to Cabinet outlining the details of a landmark €5m wellbeing pilot to provide counselling services in primary schools.
The first part of the programme is the provision of counselling to children in primary schools in seven counties across the country.
The second part will create a new type of role in the education system of a wellbeing practitioner who will work with schools on early intervention and wellbeing promotion.
• Also at Cabinet on Tuesday, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will seek approval to ban vapes for those under the age of 18 and to place a restriction on the types of retailers who can sell vapes or nicotine-inhaling products from July.
Proposed measures include curbing the advertising of nicotine-inhaling products near schools, on public transport, and in a number of other settings frequented by children and young adults.
The aim is to limit children’s exposure to commercial messages “normalising or glamourising” the purchase and usage of e-cigarettes.
The most recently published surveys of Irish school-aged children show that 9% of 12- to 17-year-olds and 15.5% of 15- and 16-year-olds used vapes in the previous 30 days.
An evidence review by the Health Research Board found that children who vaped were five times more likely to go on and start smoking.
It follows a move by authorities in Australia to ban recreational vaping as part of a major crackdown on the products.
• Meanwhile, Justice Minister Simon Harris will bring the State's review into familicide and domestic homicide before Cabinet.
It's expected he will publish the report tomorrow which makes several recommendations once he has consulted with victims and families.
Former justice minister Charlie Flanagan commissioned the independent specialist study in 2019 following a campaign by the bereaved family of Clodagh Hawe, who was murdered by her husband, Alan, in 2016. He also murdered their three children before taking his own life.