Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure how the Minister can say she is happy that IDA Ireland must maintain so many vacant sites. It is a staggering figure - 85 properties out of a total of 137 are vacant, or almost two of every three properties. These properties were not acquired in the recent or even the medium-term past. They have been vacant for a long period. Given that 94% of the 137 properties are located outside the Dublin area, there is a huge opportunity to address the two-tier recovery, regional imbalance which we have discussed throughout this session and earlier. Will the Minister and the Department undertake a specific task or initiative to address the issue?

The Minister mentioned she had an increase of €53 million in her capital budget. What specific plan is out there? Apart from just mentioning IDA Ireland and EI, can we have a specific plan or initiative from the Minister, her Department and those agencies to address the vacant sites? They are under-utilised and their potential to address the imbalance in regional development is not being harnessed.

See this speech in context