Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton was travelling to the US today for a five-day trade mission.
Minister Bruton will be meeting with representatives of 19 American companies in New York, New Jersey and Boston to discuss plans for job creation in Ireland.
The trade mission to the eastern states of the US, organised by the IDA, aims to strengthen relations with American companies that already have Irish operations, and attract new investment to this country.
Minister Bruton will hold one-on-one meetings with senior executives from US firms in the life sciences, financial services and IT sectors.
Half of the companies already have Irish operations employing a total of 20,000 people, while the remainder will be targetted by the Government.
The Minister will also hold interviews with the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Fox Business Network, to send the message that Ireland is open for business.