Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

That is all I can say at this stage. We are very well aware of the need. All Members of the House, particularly Deputies in the constituency such as Deputy Finneran and Deputy Naughten, have raised this issue on an ongoing basis and are very keen to see development here. The fundamental point, however, is that whereas I am accountable for Enterprise Ireland, a global sum is allocated to the agency and the Department does not get involved in second guessing or validating every grant allocation it makes to client companies. We make inquiries following representations from Deputies, but we do not second guess every individual proposal. There are very good reasons why we do not and why the Oireachtas does not either — and why the Oireachtas has given the agency specific powers to discharge. There is a variety of other ways, through the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, the Committee of Public Accounts and so on, to pursue these issues as well. Enterprise Ireland is endeavouring a developmental approach to this issue to see what may done to create more jobs in the area.

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