Key positives included access to talent, quality third level education and the pro-business policies of successive governments.

The Vodafone is giving high speed broadband to 15 rural towns in Ireland to help grow business.

Some of the towns with the slowest broadband speeds in Ireland will soon have connectivity to rival international hubs such Tokyo and Hong Kong, according to the company installing fibre optic cable in rural areas.

The country’s chief digital expert has admitted that Government departments and bodies need to earn public trust, so that people can engage with public services online with the same ease as in the commercial world.

Work has begun to deliver the country’s fastest-ever broadband to a Co Cork town in a reversal of the digital divide between Dublin and regional towns.