O’Keeffe denies IDA resources claim

TRADE Minister Batt O’Keeffe has denied he was hanging the IDA “out to dry” by not giving the job creation agency there sources it needs to attract investment.

The minister was at the centre of a major political row after it emerged IDA chairman Liam O’Mahony wrote to him earlier this year expressing alarm that the body’s staff had been slashed by 50 people since the economic crisis hit in 2008. The agency indicated it would struggle to achieve its task of creating more than 100,000 jobs over the next four years as part of the Horizon 2020 initiative.

However, Mr O’Keeffe insisted the IDA would be “satisfied” when he announces funding for the agency in the coming days, but refused to say whether the 50 positions would be returned.