IDA ‘not washing its hands of south-east’
A member of Waterford City Council has accused the agency of turning its back on the area. But regional director Brian Conroy said there has never been more focus on job creation and investment in Waterford and across the south-east region.
Independent city councillor Davy Daniels made his comments after it emerged that another IDA chief, who was twice invited to attend the council, was asked to set his own time and date, given the difficulties in arranging the meeting.
“It would seem to me that the IDA policy regarding Waterford is all over the place despite the efforts of the city council,” Mr Daniels said at Monday’s council meeting.
“The last occasion we had an official from the IDA here we asked them if the IDA was selling off property in the city.
“The answer we got was no. But substantial amounts of property are being sold off. It seems to me that they are trying to wash their hands of Waterford.”
However, Mr Conroy said the sale of property is part of a national strategy and not unique to Waterford.
“For a number of years, the IDA has not been involved in owning factories or buildings. It is up to the private sector to build them,” he said.
“We have disposed of properties all over Ireland as part of that policy, including in Waterford. But the money raised is being reinvested in our property portfolio and in landbanks.
“We are working very hard to bring new industry into the region. We do recognise that there is a difficulty in Dungarvan in relation to Waterford Crystal.
“The closure of the plant was a huge blow. We are working hard to get new industry into the region.”
The future looks brighter for the south-east than it has for a long time. Several major infrastructural projects, key among them the new route to Dublin, will be a huge boost and significantly improve the area’s appeal, Mr Conroy said.
May 2001: Genzyme creates 480 jobs.
April 2002: Guehring creates 50 jobs.
September 2002: AOL creates 125 jobs.
June 2003: ABB Transformers creates 70 jobs.
March 2004: Ubiqus creates 69 jobs.
July 2004: Pinewood Healthcare announces 150 jobs.
August 2005: BISYS announces 250 jobs.
