Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, but anybody who thinks IDA Ireland has not delivered in east Cork just needs to take a look at the numbers. It is one of the big success stories nationally. That said, what is referred to by most people locally is the Amgen site. It is a large site and it is very well catered for with utilities. Road infrastructure needs to be built adjacent to the site and more generally in the area. We are seeking to progress this.

I have spoken to representatives of IDA Ireland about the site. We do not have very many sites of this scale nationally, although we have a few. I regard the site as a strategic one whose development we need to focus on. There has been a lot more activity than the Deputy might think on the site – activity involving IDA Ireland and the county council regarding zoning and infrastructure issues – but it is true that we have not got the right fit yet in the sense of a large multinational seeking to locate there. I hope that will change in the coming months. There has been no shortage of demand to come to Ireland recently. I am on this. I realise the Deputy raises the matter of the site with me regularly. I pass it regularly and am reminded of it every time I pass it. This is one of the most strategic IDA Ireland sites in the country. I suspect that, in the months ahead, I will be asking the Government for a lot more money for IDA Ireland to purchase strategic land banks nationally to plan for the future. We have a very strategic land bank already at the site in question and we will do everything we can to try to use it. It has so many positive aspects, from the rail line to its being in a residential location. Also, it is in pretty close proximity to what will be the energy interconnector with France. Therefore, there is much to be said in favour of the site. Some road infrastructure is needed. It would be much easier for me to get it across the line if we had an international project that wanted to locate at the site.