asked the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism the steps taken by the IDA to increase their staff in the Cork-Kerry region.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers - IDA Cork/Kerry Staff.
1.
The Industrial Development Authority established a new small industry board, on a pilot basis, in Cork in June 1983. This is part of the concentrated small industry programme for Cork City and the non-designated areas of the county announced by the Taoiseach in March 1983. Six new small industry specialists have been assigned to the Cork office as a result. All decision-making powers and functions relating to small industry in the Cork area, with the exception of policy, have been devolved to the Cork Small Industry Board.
The IDA have appointed an assistant regional manager to its new office in Tralee to intensify the promotion of industrial development in County Kerry.
My question has been on the Order Paper for some time and events have caught up with the problem mentioned in it. Last night the House discussed that problem in depth. I am concerned that the Cork-Kerry region has not been as successful as other regions in attracting industry and I should like the Minister to give an assurance that the IDA operation in Cork will be as effective as operations have been in other areas, such as the mid-west region. That area has been very successful in the last ten years through the influence of SFADCo.
The number of IDA staff in Cork is 19 compared to eight in 1979. That is a major improvement in the resources being deployed to attract industry to Cork. The emphasis of this effort is on harnessing the skills and enterprises of local people in Cork and that is why there has been a complete devolution of executive responsibility in the small industries programme to Cork through a small industry board. I would not like to get involved in comparisons between one region and another. The experience of our nearest neighbour, Great Britain, has been a bad one as far as this is concerned. In Great Britain different regions competed with one another and outbid one another for industry. Industry was taken from one part of the country to another at great cost to the taxpayers. It is better that regions should complement one another and co-operate rather than compete in this instance.
Will the Minister tell the House when the decision was made to decentralise the small industry section and the name of the Minister involved?
The IDA made this proposal. It was agreed to as far as the Cork area was concerned and announced by the Taoiseach in March last.
I should like to remind Deputies that the question deals specifically with Cork and Kerry and it would not be proper to deal with the entire country.
Had the Minister been more specific in his reply to the supplementary there would not be any need for me to ask him a question. Is the Minister trying to tell the House that the decision to decentralise the small industry section was taken by the Government and announced by the Taoiseach in March? Will the Minister agree that the decision was taken by the outgoing Fianna Fáil Government and announced by me in October 1980? The Minister should check Government decisions.
The record shows clearly that the detailed announcement was not made by the IDA until Friday, 10 June 1983.
Was there a Government decision?
There had been a previous announcement of the IDA's intentions in this matter by the Taoiseach in March but the detailed arrangements were not announced by the IDA until June 1983. The money has been provided for this enterprise by the Government. We have provided the money for the additional staff and so on. The staff had not taken up office in Cork until after the detailed IDA announcement in the matter on 10 June 1983.
Is the Minister trying to tell the House that the IDA took the decision themselves, that it was not the subject of a Government decision in October 1982 and that there was no such announcement by me as Minister? The Minister should not mislead the House in this way. I am surprised that he is doing so.
The Deputy during his distinguished term as Minister had very good relations with the press and I understand he spoke to them on many occasions at all hours of the day and night. For that reason I cannot be sure of everything he may or may not have said to the press about his intentions, pious and otherwise, in regard to this matter. The fact is that the staff were not provided and a concrete announcement was not made——
Is the Minister denying that the Government decided this or not? The Minister should not waffle on; he should give us a straight answer. Was there a Government decision or not? This matter was around for ten years?
Deputy Reynolds is entitled to fair credit for what he did in regard to this.
Members should have some regard for the dignity of the House and not turn it into a bear garden.
If we were not mislead by the Minister we would have all the dignity in the world.
As Deputies opposite do not appear to have listened carefully to my reply, I should like to tell them that the Industrial Development Authority established a new small industry board, on a pilot basis, in Cork in June 1983.
It took the Coalition six months to implement a decision of the previous Government. The Minister has not denied that there was a Government decision in regard to this.
It does not matter a damn who made the announcement.
I am anxious to keep the record straight.
I should like to know why, if Deputy Reynolds made the announcement in 1980, it took the Minister until 1983 to deal with the matter. The decision to bring the small industry division to Cork has revitalised interest in small industries there.
The Deputy must ask a question. I cannot allow him to make a speech.
The Minister is trying to mislead us all in regard to the situation in Cork. His Government should have done something in regard to that area but did not.
What can we do in our area to offset the influence of SFADCo in the United States in their efforts to get industries for the Limerick region?
That does not have anything to do with the question.
We should not look at the matter in that way.