Vol. 232 No. 4
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will give details of all grants or loans paid from State or semi-State sources under his Department to Messrs. Denny and Sons Limited in respect of their factory at Blackpool in Cork over the past 15 years.
4.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is aware that machinery delivered to the factory of Messrs. Denny and Sons Limited at Blackpool, Cork some two years ago was never installed; and if any State or semi-State funds were involved in the purchase of this machinery.
5.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries whether State contributions were made towards the payment of an incentive bonus scheme to workers formerly in the factory of Messrs. Denny and Sons Limited at Blackpool, Cork; and if he will give details of the amounts paid from any State or semi-State funds under his Department in this respect.
6.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will give details of the weekly production figures at the factory of Messrs. Denny and Sons Limited at Blackpool in Cork for the 12 months prior to the recent closure.
7.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will take steps to attract bacon interests to Cork city with a view to acquiring the premises formerly operated as a factory by Messrs. Denny and Sons Limited of Blackpool with a view to absorbing unemployment created as a result of the recent closure.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose taking Questions Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 together.
Grants paid to Messrs. Denny in respect of their Cork factory under the Bacon Factory Modernisation Scheme introduced by my Department in 1960 have amounted to £22,398. Grants under this scheme are paid only after receipts for expenditure have been obtained and after an inspection team from my Department have visited the factory concerned and satisfied themselves that the work in respect of which a grant is sought has been completed and that any machinery or equipment included has been installed and is in proper working order. No grant was, therefore, paid in respect of machinery delivered to the Denny factory at Cork but not installed.
In 1965 Messrs. Denny applied for a grant under a scheme of Technical Assistance Grants operated by my Department which is designed to promote efficiency in agriculture-based industries. The grant was sought to enable the firm to engage industrial consultants to investigate and carry out work measurement on production operations in the Cork factory and to recommend changes including the application of suitable incentives which would result in cost reduction. Early in 1967 the firm notified my Department that the project had been completed and a grant of £3,587, representing 50 per cent of the consultants' fees, was duly paid.
No other grants and no loans have been made from State or semi-State sources under my Department to Messrs. Denny in respect of the factory.
As regards weekly production figures for the Cork factory, it would not be in accordance with practice to disclose details of an individual firm's business and accordingly I regret I am unable to furnish the figures requested.
If the Deputy has good grounds for believing that it would be possible to attract bacon interests to Cork city with a view to acquiring the Denny factory premises, I will of course look into the matter. There are, as the Deputy is aware, three other substantial bacon factories in Cork; two of those have been in the course of being modernised and the third is being completely rebuilt on more advanced lines.
