Matt Brennan
Question:28 Mr. M. Brennan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the amount of grant-aid paid to a company (details supplied) in each of the last five years; and the dates they were paid. [16217/95]
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Grant Payments.
Details of grant payments made by Forbairt and the former IDA to the company concerned in the past five years are as follows:
|
Year |
Date of Payment |
Amount Paid |
|
IR£ |
||
|
1990 |
28 November 1990 |
20,221 |
|
10 December 1990 |
30,000 |
|
|
1991 |
16 January 1991 |
128,571 |
|
7 August 1991 |
79,706 |
|
|
12 September 1991 |
13,481 |
No payments were made in the years 1992 to 1995.
This company was unfairly treated in the amount of grant payments to it compared to other joinery companies. It seems that Munster Joinery has a monopoly in this area. Many joinery factories in the west cannot compete with Munster Joinery because of the number of grants it has received for training and employment creation. I do not understand the reason Munster Joinery received so many grants when other joinery companies did not receive any grants in the past 25 or 30 years. Why was Munster Joinery paid so much money?
We are dealing with a statistical question.
Since 1985 grant assistance has been confined only to exporting companies. The grant payments of approximately £270,000 made in 1990 and 1991 would have been related to export sales projections made by the company. The IDA would have to be satisfied that the export sales projections were achieved and that normal claw-back clauses applied in relation to such grant approvals which would confine the continued payment of grants to the achievement of the export sales performance. The Deputy is right in saying that joinery companies operating only in the local market would not be eligible for grant aid and have not been eligible for ten years.
I understand that joinery company does not export many products and yet it seems to have a monopoly in this area. I am not aware of the quality of its products but the quality of joinery made in the west is excellent. Some people set up factories in the west, particularly in my constituency, without any grant aid. Some of them employ 25 or 30 people, others employ as many as 40 to 50 people. The joinery factory I worked in, GWI in Collooney, County Sligo, had to close down due to a lack of Government finances.
The Deputy is going beyond the bounds of the question.
It is a crying shame that this company now has a monopoly in the joinery area.
The payments to which the Deputy referred were not made while our party was in Government; indeed, the Deputy's party was in Government. I repeat the point I made, grant aid is available on the same terms to all companies. In this instance, it is only available in relation to export sales. That has been the policy for the past ten years under all Governments. Companies must comply with that and grants will only be paid if they achieve export sales performance. If they fail to achieve that, they will be subject to the normal grant claw-back. I do not see any basis for claiming unfair treatment according to my brief.
I do not know the firm to which my colleague, Deputy Brennan, referred but the general point he is making is one of great interest. Constituents often approach us and say that a particular firm is obtaining grants while they cannot. When we inquire on their behalf we are told it is a matter of displacement or there is already sufficient market for the particular product. I have often thought that insufficient research is carried out into whether the product being made is comparable to others in terms of quality. That is the issue to which Deputy Brennan is referring. What is the policy in regard to displacement? What is the policy in regard to goods of a superior or inferior quality being grant aided and is there ongoing monitoring of such matters.
We are going beyond the bounds of the question.
No, we are not.
The position in relation to this sector is that a decision was taken ten years ago, and maintained ever since, that aid would only be given in relation to export sales. It is not a question of the quality of individual products. The broader issue of displacement is one which the IDA and Forbairt must always examine. If there is a question that the grant aid of a particular project would adversely affect another operator, it would have to be taken into account. However, this specific sector is one of such sensitivity that grant aid is confined only to export sales.
Will the Minister indicate the amount of exports by this company in the past five years?
I do not have access to that information.
Will the Minister obtain that information for me?
I can assure the Deputy that, under the grant aid arrangements, the company would have to achieve export performance in line with its targets or it would face claw-back in relation to the grants. I can obtain an assurance that the IDA is satisfied that the claims made at the time have been fulfilled. There may be an issue of confidentiality as to export volumes, but I will endeavour to obtain information in whatever terms it is available.
That concludes Question Time for today.