Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Where it makes sense in local environments, we work with IDA Ireland to make a site available for an enterprise centre, for example, or for indigenous enterprise as opposed to foreign direct investment. Some 41% of properties are vacant but this percentage relates to a much smaller total than was the case previously. In 1998, there were 613 buildings in the IDA Ireland portfolio, but this figure has decreased to 150.

I issue a note of caution in response to the Deputy's suggestion. Yesterday, we announced the investment decision by Merck, Sharp & Dohme to open a 65-acre facility in Carlow. I have visited Carlow frequently in the past three years and the pressure was on us to lease that site. We almost leased a small part of it to an indigenous enterprise but that arrangement fell through. In hindsight, this seems like a positive outcome because the 65 acres are adequate for a value-added, high-end manufacturing investment. This is an example of a case where one might lose out by getting rid of property too quickly and so be left without options. In Ballina, there have been long-standing difficulties in securing a site for the county council to market the town for the purposes of securing foreign direct investment. That scheme is being held up by legal difficulties between the council and the vendor.

IDA Ireland's strategic approach to property is to dispose of those it does not need, to develop more strategic land sites, such as those in Oranmore, Athenry and in the north east, that can accommodate high-end industry, and to use the private sector more effectively.

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