Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am huge fan of IDA Ireland. It does extraordinary work. However, its handling of this issue has been less than satisfactory. The fact that planning was allowed to lapse in the first place does not suggest priority or urgency. As the Minister of State said, we know it is marketing the site but marketing an industrial site without planning is not necessarily the best way to sell the site as a location to potential investors.

Will the Minister of State confirm that the planning application is on track for submission in the third quarter of this year and that there have been no delays since January as a consequence of Covid restrictions? I invite the Minister of State to come down to see the site. Will he engage with IDA Ireland on potentially building an advanced solution on it, similar to what was built in Castlebar, which was essential to attracting the Meissner investment? Having a walk-in unit that is ready to go will make the site much more sellable than a site with planning permission.

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