Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

In general, is the Minister satisfied with the way the IDA manages its property portfolio? Without talking about the large land banks, and I accept it must have some land banks, in January I received figures from the IDA stating that 42% of its properties were vacant, including in the Airways Industrial Estate and on Gardiner Street in Dublin. In recent days, I also obtained figures from the Minister to show that approximately 40 IDA properties and buildings have been vacant for more than five years, 20 of which are leased from a private owner and have been vacant for five to ten years. One property leased from a private owner has been vacant for more than ten years.

If I were in the Minister's job, in my first week I would call the IDA to establish why the hell it spends large amounts of money renting buildings from private landlords to leave them vacant for five, six or even 11 years. The Minister must ask the IDA what is going on. Does the Minister have confidence in how the IDA manages its property portfolio?

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