Government accused of rural neglect over vacant IDA sites

The 67 vacant IDA sites across the country are evidence that the Government is neglecting rural Ireland, Fianna Fáil jobs and enterprise spokesman Niall Collins has claimed.

He said most of the properties were located in rural towns that had yet to feel any of the economic recovery that Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O’Connor liked to trumpet on a recent promotional tour.

“There is no denying the correlation between the location of vacant properties and the number of IDA site visits to those counties,’’ he added.

Mr Collins said while there were three vacant properties in Donegal, the county had just one IDA visit in the first quarter of this year.

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Kerry had two vacant properties, but the IDA was able to facilitate only one visit, he added.

He said unless the Minister could convince the IDA to bring more foreign enterprises to view sites in counties outside of the greater Dublin area, none of the 67 vacant properties would receive new tenants any time soon.

"The facts do not lie: nearly 50 per cent of all site visits in the first quarter of this year were in the greater Dublin area, with a further 25 per cent to Cork, Galway and Limerick. "

Dublin-centricity

He said this was not new, given most of the IDA site visits were concentrated in the greater Dublin area during the previous government’s lifetime.

Mr Collins said foreign direct investment acted as a significant engine in the Irish economy by providing highly skilled jobs and additional indirect employment to local indigenous businesses.

Failing to spread it across the regions was the legacy of Fine Gael’s time in government, he said. “Their concern has been, and continues to be, the counties in and around the capital.”

He said a two-tier recovery was Fine Gael’s “calling card’’, adding that a change would require a Minister who understood the needs of rural communities. He claimed Ms Mitchell O’Connor seemed oblivious to the concerns of rural Ireland.