Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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29. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of agencies under the aegis of his Department that own business or industrial land for development, broken down by agency and by county; if he intends rationalising this approach to the development of industrial and business sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12229/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The two agencies under the remit of my Department who hold industrial property portfolios are IDA Ireland and Shannon Development. Details of the land holdings of both agencies are set out in the tabular statement. IDA Ireland also provides property solutions to companies who are clients of Enterprise Ireland. Under legislation both agencies are independent in the exercise of their property function. The empirical results of international research has demonstrated that the availability of suitable property solutions is a key element in the location decision making process undertaken by prospective investors in determining where projects will locate. Most International development agencies with which IDA competes hold substantial stocks of such properties.

As part of the restructuring of Shannon Development, the enterprise support functions have transferred to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. This will ensure the continuation of support to both FDI and indigenous enterprises in the region and will also allow the new Shannon Group, being formed from the combining of Shannon Airport Authority and Shannon Development to focus on the development of an International Aviation Service Centre in Shannon. IDA Ireland is assuming responsibility for FDI companies in the Shannon Free Zone, which currently has approximately 55 companies with over 5,000 employees. In addition, part of the restructuring will result in IDA purchasing lands in the National Technology Park in Limerick and the Raheen Business & Technology Park from Shannon Development.

In recent years IDA Ireland has taken the decision to rationalise its non-core land holdings in a number of locations throughout the country. Land holdings are initially offered to Local Authorities and recent examples of rationalisation of IDA Ireland non-core lands completed include the transfer of lands to Roscommon County Council, Donegal County Council, Wicklow County Council and South Dublin County Council. In addition, current transfers in legal process include Cork County Council, Leitrim County Council, Wexford County Council and discussions are on-going with Galway County Council, Sligo County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Kilkenny County Council. The Agency has explained that non-core lands which are not required by the Local Authorities are placed on the Open Market for disposal.

IDA Ireland also markets non-core lands and properties directly to stakeholders including; OPW, HSE, Chambers of Commerce, An Post and other similar bodies through active engagement in sharing portfolio information with common objectives. IDA constantly keeps its property portfolio under review and of course the matter will again be reviewed in the contest of the work currently being undertaken on the preparation of a new strategy for the Agency from 2015 onwards.

Table shows details of IDA Ireland Land Holdings

Table shows details of Shannon Development Land Holdings