Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will start by providing background information to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, to give context regarding the problem. The technology park in Tralee was built in 2001 as an innovative hub, not an office block, and therein lies the problem. At the moment a number of companies, including Aspen Grove, DCS Energy Savings and Donseed, have vacated the premises. Unfortunately, Altobridge has gone into liquidation and will also vacate the premises.

Initially it was envisaged that the facility in Tralee would be similar to the Digital Hub in Dublin and would allow technology companies to collaborate with each other, with the Institute of Technology Tralee, which is on the same campus, and with agencies of the State to promote, develop and create synergies. Shannon Development was the initial owner and landlord - it looked after the Shannon area but has since devolved and now the Shannon Group exists. Bizarrely, I am talking about jobs and a technology park in Tralee with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport - I cannot see how this fits.

We are in a predicament wherein we have worked against the flow of State agencies for 14 years. We could not give regional State aid similar to what applied in the Border, midland and western, BMW, regions but I am proud that I worked hard on this issue for the past three years. We have achieved to the extent that we are now at a competitive foundation level that will allow Kerry to compete with other counties. The crux of the matter is the Kerry Group took 800 local jobs to County Kildare so the focus shifted to the technology park. When Shannon Development was wound down we considered whether the local authority, investors on campus or the Institute of Technology Tralee could take over the technology park and run it with synergies in mind and within the ethos of today's culture.

I am referring to a conversation I had today when I say a person representing the biggest tenant, which has plans to develop, cannot convince senior management to commit to development investment in the technology park because it is not the same institution the tenant first bought into. I can give the Minister the telephone number of the person in question. Members of management of companies in the technology park are completely dissatisfied as it has gone from a digital hub to an office block. They pay premium rents and it is not the same as the environment in which they first invested.

Kerry Technology Park was supposed to be developed as a piece of infrastructure within Shannon Group. The remit of Shannon Group applies to Shannon Airport and related activities so Shannon Group wishes to take business from Kerry Airport and compete with it. Kerry Airport is a lifeline for Kerry Technology Park but the latter is owned by Kerry Airport's competitor. If Kerry Airport sees a downturn the same will apply to Kerry Technology Park and Shannon Airport will benefit. Surely there is a conflict of interest here. I have seen Shannon Group's strategic plan and so have other Members - all of this is in the strategic plan. There is a conflict of interest in the fact that Shannon Group is responsible for Shannon Airport and wants to take business from Kerry Airport while Kerry Technology Park, which is part of Shannon Group, is reliant upon Kerry Airport. At the moment the technology park is the only place providing employment in Kerry.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Spring for raising this matter and I know he has championed the need for development and employment in his county and constituency. I appreciate the importance of this issue and know why the Deputy has raised it today. The Deputy has given some background information on the bodies involved and, for the benefit of the House and the record, I want to make some points on Shannon Group and its role in Kerry Technology Park.

The facility is owned and managed by Shannon Commercial Enterprises, which was formerly Shannon Development. Shannon Commercial Enterprises is a subsidiary of the newly formed Shannon Group which was established as a commercial State company. Therefore, the management of Kerry Technology Park is a matter for Shannon Group and Shannon Commercial Enterprises and I have no role in the detailed running of the business or its operational decisions.

Following the recent enactment of the State Airports (Shannon Group) Act 2014, Shannon Airport was separated from the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, and a new State-owned commercial entity, Shannon Group plc, was established. It incorporated two main wholly-owned subsidiaries: Shannon Airport Authority and a restructured Shannon Development, which was renamed Shannon Commercial Enterprises under the Act.

The Deputy will recall from debates in this House that the rationale for establishing the Shannon Group on this basis was to support a new future for Shannon and the mid-west region, as envisaged by the Shannon aviation business development task force, which reported in November 2012.

An independent Shannon Airport, coupled with a restructured Shannon Development, has the potential to develop and grow passenger traffic and the route network. A major consideration in this decision was the serious decline in passenger traffic at the airport in recent years. In its first year as an independent airport, Shannon has succeeded in reversing this decline and is now focussing on growing passenger numbers. The restructuring of Shannon Development and the streamlining of its activities is complementary to the growth of the airport business. This restructuring involved transferring the part of the business related to indigenous enterprises and foreign direct investment to Enterprise Ireland and the IDA respectively. In addition, the tourism part of the former Shannon Development's business was transferred to Fáilte Ireland. This restructuring laid the foundations for a more focussed role for the new entity Shannon Commercial Enterprises in managing and developing its property portfolio including the Shannon Free Zone adjacent to the airport. Kerry Technology Park, among other properties, was also retained in Shannon Commercial Enterprise's property portfolio, in line with the restructuring strategy.

Since the enactment of the new legislation the newly formed Shannon Group now has a statutory obligation, under Part 2, section 10(1)(b), of the State Airports (Shannon Group) Act 2014, to optimise the return on its land and property and on its shareholding in its subsidiary Shannon Commercial Enterprises. Significant work has already been carried out in Shannon to prepare the ground for the group to be established on this independent statutory basis, and that effort and momentum must now be maintained if Shannon Group is to make a success of this enterprise, including the full exploitation of the commercial potential of Kerry Technology Park. As I have already said, my role in this was to provide the legislative framework and the statutory footing to enable Shannon Group and its subsidiary Shannon Commercial Enterprises to do this. I have every confidence in Shannon Group's capacity and commitment to fulfilling its statutory obligations and to meeting the objectives laid down for it.

Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I must point out why this is an unsatisfactory response. I am glad the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is also in the Chamber because I have discussed this with him on a number of occasions. The Minister stated the establishment of the Shannon Group was on the basis that it was to support a new future for Shannon and the mid-west region, as envisaged by the Shannon aviation business development task force which reported in November 2012. I repeat this was for Shannon and the mid-west region. I come from Tralee in the south west. It is a two hour drive from Kerry Technology Park to Shannon Airport. The focus is on Shannon Airport. Kerry Technology Park is not a hangar, cargo house or shop in an airport; it is a technology park with many micro-businesses. It was an entrepreneurial region of excellence, as defined by the European Committee of the Regions, in 2010.

I find it farcical that more than a year and a half after I, along with other Members of the House, voted in favour of the legislation talks are no longer in place and we have bequeathed, or gifted, to Shannon Group an asset with a rental income. It is now in a state of decline but it has no mortgage. We gifted a cash cow to an organisation in competition with the area I represent. I find this quite embarrassing on a political level. The tenants are frustrated as they did not buy into this on day one. There will be no increase of tenants there. There is no existing relationship between Shannon Group, the enterprise boards and IDA Ireland. Why are we looking at a model which has not worked anywhere else? Its focus is on aviation, the mid-west and the Shannon area. We have gifted it a cash cow. This is a Kerry man joke. We are giving it a couple of hundred thousand euro a year so it can clobber our airport in Kerry, which is its stated ambition in its plan. I am quite fed up of it to be honest.

I have been to the former Minister, Deputy Quinn, the Ministers, Deputies Bruton, Varadkar and Donohoe, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach with this issue. It is not rocket science, but it is the only hope we have of creating jobs. If people tell me they will not expand the number of jobs they have in Kerry Technology Park based on the fact the landlord they have is not the type of landlord they bought into on day one, we have a problem. I urge the Minister to go about fixing it. The Minister told me he does not have a statutory role in the organisation, but I have just read back to him what is the role of the organisation. It is the mid-west and Shannon and not Tralee or Kerry. There is a problem. If the Minister wants to amend the legislation, I will be happy to work with him on it but this must be addressed. If he discusses it afterwards with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, they will see the essence of the problem. We must fix this.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will respond to a number of the points made by the Deputy. I appreciate why he has raised this issue. We all have the objective of trying to increase employment and jobs in our communities and constituencies. This is clearly what is motivating the Deputy. I have been informed that a number of attempts were made to agree a jointly acceptable valuation of the property but these have not yet concluded successfully. I have also been informed in preparation for this debate that meetings and engagement have taken place between the tenants and current owners and landlords of the property regarding what will happen the facility to try to allay any concerns employers or tenants might have about its development. A process has taken place, I have been informed, on looking to agree a valuation of the property. I have been informed meetings have taken place and a process has taken place between the tenants and the owners of the property.

Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge all of that but it is a problem.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will pass on the points made by the Deputy to the individuals involved because I share his objective of ensuring employment is maintained and, regardless of what part of the country we were speaking about, that everybody has the opportunity to grow more employment and future jobs. I am aware, as is the Deputy, of the role of Kerry Airport and the contribution, as he has stated, it makes to the economic development of the community and region. I will pass on the points made by the Deputy to the individuals involved. It has been said to me that efforts have been made to reach a fair valuation for the property and bring this to a conclusion. I must emphasise the boards involved, in the Shannon Group and elsewhere, are independent and their job is to run their operations under the framework of the legislation we passed in the Oireachtas-----

Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

They have been gifted a cash cow, which is unfair.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----and we all need to respect this.