Grant aid to firms ‘may be waste of cash’

ENTERPRISE Ireland, Shannon Development and IDA Ireland could be wasting billions of taxpayers’ money paying grant assistance to companies, research carried out for the Economic and Social Research Institute suggests.

The research carried out by Dr Helena Lenihan of the University of Limerick and others questions this form of payment.

In the past 20 years €5.5 billion has been paid in direct financial assistance to firms in Ireland and there is little to show that we are getting value for money, Dr Lenihan said. Her research raises fundamental questions about the way the State backs companies whether Irish- or foreign-owned.