John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was taken to visit a cluster unit in my constituency which had been lying idle for 15 years. The position is the same in several other such units throughout the country and this has resulted in an outlay of €2.5 million in rent each year, with no return for the taxpayer in the long term. I am informed that the leases for these properties are unbreakable. I am also informed that over half of the commercial premises leased by IDA Ireland are either unused and idle. One such premises in Dublin is costing the taxpayer €1.3 million per year. The cost for several others is €750,000 annually. Many of the leases on these properties are set to run for another couple of decades. I visited one premises in respect of which, when the lease expires, we will have paid €1 million extra. In the current economic climate which has been catastrophic for SMEs and small businesses how is it possible that such wanton waste of taxpayers' money is being allowed? We are leaving buildings idle and spending considerable amounts on leases and rates at a time when the country is literally on its knees and cutbacks are being made in disability and health services. The Taoiseach knows as well as I do that many start-ups fail in the first year because of the burden of rents and rates. I am aware of people who start up their businesses and are obliged to run their operations from a bedroom or sitting-room in their own homes for a year or two before they can rent suitable premises. Is the Taoiseach in a position to indicate whether all of the leases to which I refer are definitely unbreakable? If not, will he make urgent inquiries in order to discover whether we can extricate ourselves from them and vacate others which are coming up for review? Will he press for the development of a new scheme or initiative by means of which new uses could be found for the buildings to which I refer? Perhaps they might be given to companies either free of charge or at considerably reduced rates. I reiterate that we are wasting millions of euro of taxpayers' money each year in the current economic climate.

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