TAOISEACH Brian Cowen is set to meet top US business leaders in New York this morning. Cowen is on a three day economic mission to the US. The Taoiseach will also meet New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Vice President of the IDA in the US, John Conlon said this could be “one of the best years on record” for US investment into Ireland. Speaking on Morning Ireland Colon said “last year when things were going badly, a lot of the press coverage was very negative. The government has taken the right decisions.”

“Investment has continued, even last year when FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) was down 40% worldwide, investment in Ireland was only down 4%. So, even through the bad years we’ve continued to win substantial investments from some of the best companies in the world into Ireland.

Conlon continued, “when they come to Ireland we normally have a very good chance of winning the project. Site visits are up 40% this year, we’re continuing to attract some of the largest companies in the world to Ireland, to invest in Ireland.”

Yesterday the Taoiseach launched a €500m innovation fund.