Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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304. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a list of the sites owned by the Industrial Development Agency in County Cork and which have potential use for inward investment purposes in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4443/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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IDA Ireland owns a total of 312.63 hectares of land in Cork, City and County which have the potential for use for inward investment purposes. The location of these sites are set out in the attached tabular statement. In addition, there are a number of units in IDA owned Business Parks in the Cork Region which are also available for use. These units which are a mix of IDA owned and private finance are located as follows.

In Kilbarry, there is approximately 4,200 square metre Industrial Unit (Private Finance) and 4 Cluster units approx. 298 square metres each (Private Finance). In Cork Business and Technology Park there is approximately 1,164 square metre IDA owned (3 storey). While in Youghal there are two units (privately owned), one 2,298 square metres and one 10,313 square metres.

The availability of an adequate supply of marketable, serviced land and office and industrial/technology buildings in advance of demand is a key element in IDA Ireland’s ability to compete for mobile FDI.

The availability of property solutions eliminates the lead times normally associated with acquiring property, enables clients to plan their property needs with a greater degree of certainty and allows for the commencement of projects at an earlier date by eliminating much of the difficulties associated with land acquisition, planning and construction.

At the end of 2014, there were 146 IDA Ireland client companies in Cork, City and County employing 28,545 people in full and part time employment. IDA Ireland has strong relationships with all these companies and works closely with them to ensure their long term sustainability and to encourage their growth, development and continuing re-investment in their sites.

IDA Ireland positions Cork as being a strong cluster in Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technologies (Pfizer, Novatis, GSK, Janssen, Abbvie, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Pepsico, GE, Stryker, Gilead, Astellas among others). The success of Cork for attracting life sciences has seen the growth in associated support services such as experienced building firms and project managers, clean room providers, specialist recruitment agencies, tailored educational courses etc.

The region also has a significant cluster of ICT companies such as Apple, Dell, McAfee, Trend Micro, EMC, VMware, among others. The cluster of companies has led to the growth in suitably qualified individuals, experienced in working with multi-national corporations.

IDA Ireland has also informed me that a new cluster is emerging in the region based around the marine and renewable technologies. The development of the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC) will be a strong magnet of attraction for the South West. IMERC will harness and integrate diverse research and industry expertise through the development of the innovative cluster which incorporates the Beaufort Research Laboratory, The Irish National Maritime College and The Naval Service of Ireland.

Table shows sites owned by IDA Ireland in Cork, City and County, which have potential for use for inward investment purposes.