Up to 50 IDA factories idle

UP to 50 IDA factories around the country are lying idle and almost 30 of those are being rented with taxpayers’ money because of a decades’ old Government commitment.

Empty factories in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Kildare are among the properties the IDA promised to rent for periods of up to 35 years. Figures released yesterday reveal up to €2m annually is still being paid to developers who built the factories in the 1980s because a Government programme guaranteed the rental income would continue.

The IDA is paying to rent 28 empty factory units and will continue to do so until between 2015 and 2020 when the Government’s commitment runs out.