Vol. 558 No. 6
1 Mr. Hogan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if it was unusual practice that a company would announce the establishment of a production facility at Macroom, County Cork, with the intention of creating 250 jobs and that no application was made to the IDA for grant assistance; the name of such precedent in past years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25188/02]
The decision as to whether to seek IDA assistance in any given circumstances is a matter for the company undertaking the investment. While IDA Ireland was involved in discussions with the company concerned regarding the acquisition of the facility at Macroom, and I also met them in the context of these discussions, no detailed business plan was submitted by the company to IDA for grant assistance.
As IDA Ireland systems are oriented towards tracking projects where grant aid is provided, it is not possible to estimate the number of non-grant-aided projects that proceed. It is, of course, a matter of great regret that the project did not proceed in this case.
When did the Minister meet people from Elan to discuss this project?
It was around this time last year, just before Christmas. I can get the Deputy the precise date later. At the request of the IDA and in the company of the IDA chief executive, Mr. Seán Dorgan, I met the then chief executive of Elan, Mr. Geaney.
What was the content of those discussions?
They informed me of Elan's intention to purchase the site, which subsequently happened in March 2002 for a sum of €6 million. I was advised of the company's plans to expand its manufacturing facility into Macroom. That was good news because we had been endeavouring to find a suitable investor for the Macroom facility following the closure of General Semiconductor.
Was the Minister aware that a couple of days before the general election, there was an article in the local newspaper – and I am aware of the ruling in the House in the matter – in relation to the fact that Elan was to create 200 jobs in Macroom? The Taoiseach made a fast car journey to Macroom in order to make sure he announced these jobs. These jobs were announced in the presence of a well-known friend of the Taoiseach, Elan's Mr. Geaney, and in the presence and with the collusion of the director of elections for Fianna Fáil, Mr. P.J. Mara, who is a public affairs consultant for Elan Corporation. In view of the fact that the board of Elan Corporation had not approved the project, does the Minister think this is unusual practice? Given that she knew this project was going to happen in Macroom and that she was notified by the Taoiseach's Department that he was going to make this announcement, what did she do about stopping him from doing that because it was not a bona fide announcement per se? No approval was given by the board of Elan Corporation. It was unusual that the company did not apply to the IDA for any grant assistance. It was at a time when the shares of Elan Corporation had plummeted.
Brevity please.
Would the Minister accept she was aware of this shabby practice by the Government and that it was a political con job on the people of Macroom, just days before the general election?
I would not be privy to what decisions have been made by the board of a company. Frequently the board of a company would not be aware of plans made by part of its operations. Subsidiaries of companies can invariably make decisions in relation to their activities that would not formally go to the board. In January 2002 the IDA made the company aware of what kind of grant aid might be available in the event of a business plan being forthcoming. I do not accept a company would spend in the region of £5 million or about €6 million to become part of a PR stunt.
When Mr. Geaney came to see me I was in no doubt it was a bona fide project and it was treated with the kind of seriousness that a project of that kind should receive. The chief executive of the IDA would not lightly bring a person to see me to discuss a project if we did not believe it was a serious project. It was a serious project and that is why the company acquired the site. It has not disposed of the site yet. A site in Macroom is not as lucrative or as easy to dispose of as a site in a more populated area.
Circumstances changed enormously for the company between the initial intention in the earlier part of this year and subsequent events that occurred over the summer and since then in relation to the company's fortunes. I hope that Elan Corporation recovers, because it was a successful company, employing huge numbers of people in this country. It reached high levels on the stock exchange both here and elsewhere. It was a flagship as far as Irish enterprise was concerned.
We are rapidly running out of time. The Deputy can have another 30 seconds.
This announcement, made by the Taoiseach in the run-up to the general election, without the approval of the board of the company involved, smells politically. It was a deliberate attempt—
Does the Deputy have a question, because the Minister will not have time to answer?
The Minister was aware of this and she colluded with it, because she did nothing to stop this announcement.
I will have to call a halt. We have run out of time.
I want to ask a final question.
We are moving on to Question No. 2.
This is a serious matter.
The Minister does not have time to answer the question.
Should the people of Macroom—
Six minutes have been allocated to this question and the Deputy has done well with supplementary questions.
She has had six months to answer this question. Should the people of Macroom get an apology?
I call on the Minister to answer Question No. 2.
Should the people, community and workers of Macroom get an apology from the Taoiseach and the Minister for deliberately misleading them for electoral reasons?
We have run out of time and have already gone half a minute over time.
The Minister knows well what happened. There was a deliberate attempt to win two seats. I am asking you, a Cheann Comhairle, to allow the Minister to answer.
The Deputy should stop talking such rubbish. The Deputy knows well that Elan—
The Minister of State, should allow the Minister to answer Question No. 2.
Should the people of Macroom get an apology?
I ask the Deputy to resume his seat when the Chair is on its feet.
I know the Chair is on its feet.
I ask the Deputy to resume his seat or leave the House.
The Minister should distance herself from this shabby practice.
I believe I have time to reply to the Deputy. There is no question of collusion, as the Deputy knows. As it happens my ever-efficient private secretary has told me I met Mr. Geaney on 19 December 2001.
Can I ask a supplementary? The Minister is replying.
