David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. It is probably one of the best sites in the country. Mr. Martin Shanahan, who appeared before the committee recently, also said that. It is a fully serviced site on 56 ha with water, sewerage and electricity utilities. There is a rail link at one end of the site and a dual carriageway at the other end. It has been lying idle for the best part of 20 years and it cannot be developed because the road infrastructure is not up to standard. Cork County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, had plans to upgrade the road outside the site but they were abandoned last year or put on hold. I have spoken about this with the Tánaiste in the Dáil and elsewhere to try to get the road infrastructure up to standard again because the site is just sitting there. IDA Ireland cannot get companies to locate in it because the road infrastructure is not up to standard. They cannot get access to the motorway nearby.

In addition, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage was in Midleton recently where he kick-started at long last the commencement of 2,500 houses, which will also have access to the road infrastructure, as will 3,000 houses in Carrigtwohill. The road is highly dangerous as matters stand and without an upgrade. Those are three extremely good reasons for upgrading it. The point I emphasise, however, is the fact that the IDA Ireland site is lying idle and many companies could use it. There is a shortage of these kinds of sites in the southern region. Perhaps the Minister could use his good offices to kick-start this again.

More than €1.2 million has already been spent on the design and plans for the road, if not more, and there are people who cannot sell their houses there because they do not know what the future will hold. Everything is frozen until the Government decides to move this project again. There are many good reasons for getting it moving and I ask the Tánaiste to act on this.

I asked about CETA earlier when we spoke about trade. I am interested in hearing what the up-to-date thinking on that is. I know there are some political differences but perhaps our engagement with Canada might help to throw some light on that.

Will the Minister comment on Balance for Better Business, which I set up when I was in the Department of Justice? It is now under the remit of his Department. I understand the group is still active and I would like a report on how it is going.

The Ukraine credit guarantee scheme and the growth and sustainability loan scheme both provide low-cost loans. What interest rates are we talking about for those schemes and for how long will they be in place? The growth and sustainability loan scheme provides low-cost loans to farmers, fishers and SMEs. The Minister probably knows that if farmers get grant aid under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, to install solar panels and so on, they cannot get paid for exporting electricity to the grid. That is a barrier to farmers using solar energy to power their enterprises. It does not make any sense to me. I think it is a European issue. We should be encouraging and supporting farmers and businesspeople to install solar panels as well as batteries so that they can store electricity. Farmers often use electricity at peak times for milking during mornings and evenings. Energy storage in batteries would take pressure off the grid. The grant aid for that is important.