Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the matter of the global pharmaceutical centre of excellence in Tralee. This is an issue of the utmost importance for the people of Tralee, the people of County Kerry and for the entire south-west region. When the centre of excellence was first announced it represented an unprecedented ray of hope for Tralee.

I remind Members that even at the height of the so-called boom, at one point the town of Tralee had a live register figure that was higher than that for the entirety of County Meath. Tralee has been an industrial wasteland for almost two decades and this project offered huge hope and optimism for the future. However, in recent days it has emerged that the project, which has the potential to create up to 5,000 jobs, may be in danger of being relocated to Derry in Northern Ireland. Since the onset of the recession, the unemployment problem in Tralee and in County Kerry in general has worsened considerably and it now appears as though this project, which was dangled in front of them and looked so positive, will be lost to the people of County Kerry and the south west.

The project backers have cited huge differences in attitude between State agencies south of the Border and their equivalents, such as Invest Northern Ireland, north of the Border. In particular, the IDA has come in for enormous criticism from the backers of the global pharmaceutical centre of excellence. I call on the Minister of State to assure me, as well as the people of Tralee and County Kerry, that everything that possibly can be done will be done to ensure this vital project stays in County Kerry and does not go north of the Border. Second, will representatives of the IDA be asked to explain its record on this project and the reason those who back this project have felt obliged to take to the airwaves in County Kerry and to approach the media to complain about that agency? This must be done if jobs are to be successfully created and if the economy is to grow in the future. It is not good enough that a State agency should be cited as being so weak, poor and unresponsive when a huge project such as this is offered as an opportunity.

The project backers also mentioned they have been highly impressed and are satisfied with the support they have received from Shannon Development and from the Minister, Deputy Deenihan. In addition, Kerry County Council and the other local authorities in Kerry have worked hard to try to bring this project to fruition. However, the IDA is an agency that appears to have allowed this project to slip through its fingers. Anyone who examines the IDA's delivery figures for County Kerry over the past 15 years will discern the agency already has a disastrous record in the county. I seek action in this regard as it is not too late. While this project has not yet departed, it will go unless something is done. I seek a guarantee this evening that the Government will stand up for the people of County Kerry and the south west and will help to deliver this project. It is not good enough that there is a possibility that it will be lost. Too many people from County Kerry have been forced to emigrate or are out of work. Too many graduates of the Institute of Technology Tralee have no hope because they see no jobs in the county. Similarly, too many of the leaving certificate students who are sitting their examinations at present wonder why they should even bother going to college because no opportunities will await them on graduation. This project could be the catalyst that County Kerry badly needs to get its economy moving again and to be a model for the rest of Ireland. I wish to ensure this project is not lost to the people of the county and I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, and on the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, to intervene. They should do what is right by the people of County Kerry and should ensure that the global pharmaceutical centre of excellence will remain in Tralee and will lift the county and the south-western region as a whole out of recession.

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