Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If IDA Ireland had visited any of the sites in Kanturk, Charleville or Millstreet, the Minister of State would have been able to answer the question I asked. The Minster of State is hiding behind IDA Ireland. I have no wish to interfere with commercial sensitivity. Are the Department and IDA Ireland looking at land banks held in Kanturk, Charleville and Millstreet with a view to promoting those sites for industrial development? There is a highly-educated young workforce throughout Duhallow and the north Cork region. They are as capable, and probably more capable, than any of the communities throughout the country.

The Minister of State has used the opt-out clause of saying IDA Ireland does not release individuals site locations because of commercial sensitivity. That is balderdash, to be honest. If IDA Ireland had information that it could have furnished to the Department in the past three or four days indicating that there had been a visit, then that information would have been on the record of the Dáil today. I am challenging the Minister of State to go back to IDA Ireland and ask specifically when IDA Ireland last did that. Was it back when we were trying to sell these sites in Kanturk or when the advanced factory was set up in Charleville and so on? When last was there any serious discussion between IDA Ireland and the Department on these sites and how best to attract industry to these fantastic locations?

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