Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I also wish to raise the issue of the jobs at Amgen. It is no great surprise to people in the Cork region that Amgen has finally announced that the planned development of the Carrigtwohill plant will now not proceed. Several questions need to be asked on this announcement. Who knew what? When did they know it? What exactly did they know? Prior to the general election it was common knowledge in Cork that Amgen would pull the plug and that the announcement would be delayed until after the general election for very obvious reasons. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, said at the time that "any rumours were outrageous". They are not so outrageous now and Cork East is without a 1,100-job facility despite the fanfare and aplomb that heralded its announcement several years ago. I would like the Leader to arrange to bring a Minister to the House to account for this announcement and to investigate the roles of the employment agencies of the State. What role does IDA Ireland play in Cork? As far as I am concerned it does not exist in west Cork and it is clearly not working in east Cork.