JIM McLAUGHLIN is on a business trip to Ireland, touting his wares as a consultant to the medical business.

He has some experience with the market, having assisted in the setting up of private healthcare operation Charter Medical Group in Dublin’s Smithfield.

“I’m back over looking to expand,” said Mr McLaughlin, who is president of the Irish American Business Chamber in Philadelphia.

“Some other parties in the States are interested in coming to Ireland,” he said.

In general, Mr McLaughlin thinks “there isn’t an overall pessimism” in Ireland. He is slightly concerned though that Irish people are expecting too much, too quickly from the “engine” that is the US economy.

He believes the US will “get itself in gear” within about 12 months, and thinks Irish people expect an instant positive kickback. In fact, he says, it will take much longer.

PADRAIC MINTON and Les Richards, both senior executives with Schering-Plough company Organon, take a fairly benign view of the Irish business environment.

Organon employs 650 people in Swords, Co Dublin, where the company makes family planning and infertility products.

Both executives say costs can be a problem, but Mr Richards says this simply leads to Irish-based companies being more creative in how they operate.

“On the one hand it is very costly to operate in Ireland, but on the other, a lot of innovation goes on in Ireland so we can build efficiency into the cost base,” he says. He adds that Ireland is recognised globally as having “excellent quality standards” in pharmaceuticals.

In any case, according to Mr Minton, costs are becoming less of a pressure. “There certainly isn’t the same upward momentum,” he says, suggesting that any US company thinking of investing in Ireland should be aware that costs haven’t risen over the past six months.

NEIL RYAN of Wells Fargo Bank International is hoping the company’s choice of Independence Day for a name change will be auspicious.

Previously called Wachovia, the Dublin-based bank has been renamed in line with its takeover by Wells Fargo last year. Mr Ryan was busy networking among US multinationals yesterday, with no sign of a recession on his agenda.

His job is to build a European banking network for Wells Fargo from the Dublin headquarters. US multinationals operating across the continent are his target market. He says the bank is facing into a “new opportunity” that will allow it to “adapt to the current market situation”. This is a good time, according to Mr Ryan, to be starting out with no legacy to carry.

“I’m optimistic ,” he says.