Tom Kitt, Minister for Trade, today (Tuesday, 2 March 1999) launched Ask Ireland, a new website that will provide a single reference point for promoting Ireland's trade, investment and tourism interests on the world wide web. Minister Kitt said: "This will be the first port of call for every Internet user with an interest in visiting, investing in or doing business with Ireland."

The site is located at www.ask-ireland.com. Its key distinguishing feature is that it enables Internet users to quickly access thousands of pages of information about Ireland. The emphasis is on economic and business information but there is also a wide range of facts and features on Irish food, travel, lifestyle and personalities.

Minister Kitt initiated the Ask Ireland project in July last year when he announced plans to develop a world-class Internet presence that would provide information on Ireland as a location for investment, tourism and sourcing of goods and services

At today's launch in Dublin, Minister Kitt said "that Ireland was the first country in the world to develop this kind of powerful website in which the key overseas-oriented departments and agencies of the State had come together to provide an interactive gateway entry point for their Internet resources and with extensive onward links to other relevant Irish sites."

"The Internet now had more than 150 million users on-line worldwide and was continuing to grow at a dramatic rate. This created an enormous opportunity market for Ireland and Irish companies to promote foreign earnings. There is considerable interest throughout the world in Ireland's current achievements and it is considered appropriate to co-ordinate our Internet presence to maximise business opportunities" Minister Kitt added. The Ask Ireland website is produced and maintained by Webfactory, winners of the '98 Web Design Agency of the Year Award, and is designed to reflect a modern, youthful and confident image of Ireland. In addition to trade, investment and tourism information, the site carries news, business headlines and weather reports. Profiles on Irish companies and interviews with Irish business people and international executives working in Ireland will also feature. Contents will be continually updated and expanded. There will be extensive hyperlinks to other Irish websites.

RTE On-line, the website of Ireland's national broadcaster, will provide a world class news, sport, business and weather information feed to Ask Ireland. This collaboration with Ask Ireland is a first for RTE On-line.

A key feature of the site is an "Ask Ireland" facility that makes full use of the Internet's interactive capabilities. Internet users are invited to enter any questions they wish about Ireland and the site enables a personalised and prompt reply to be given. All queries will be monitored and tracked to identify additional features for the site as well as areas of potential business.

A marketing campaign is about to be launched to promote the Ask Ireland site, with extensive promotion on search engines and top websites. All participating Departments and agencies will also promote Ask Ireland. These Departments and Agencies are Bord Bia, Bord Failte, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Department of Agriculture & Food, Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of the Marine & Natural Resources, Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Shannon Development. All are represented on the Government's Foreign Earnings Committee, which is chaired by Minister Kitt.