Backers of €4.7bn pharma centre criticise minister

THE backers of a proposed €4.7 billion pharmaceutical project in Kerry have criticised comments made by a junior minister in relation to their negotiations with the IDA and other state agencies.

Talks between the Global Pharmaceutical Centre of Excellence (GPCE) management team and the Government have reached a crunch stage.

However, Small Business Minister, John Perry, said there was an urgent need for those involved in the project — which could yield 4,500 jobs — to present a proper business plan in relation to the ambitious development proposed for Tralee.

He claimed the GPCE team had not succeeded in developing the concept to a point where a firm business plan had been proposed.

His remarks infuriated the management team. Yesterday, a spokesman said it appeared Mr Perry was “ill-informed of the facts” when he said in the Dáil last week that a proper business plan had not been submitted.

“We wish to refer Minister Perry to a letter from former taoiseach Brian Cowen in which he acknowledged receipt of the business plan for the GPCE and that said business plan had been circulated to all the relevant state agencies.

“It is not helpful to the success of the overall project when a minister of state makes a public statement on this matter without being in possession of the full facts which have been well documented,” the statement said.

The developers said former minister Batt O’Keeffe made a similar statement late last year and it resulted in an immediate retraction after department officials advised him that a thorough business plan had been submitted.

They had warned that they were considering moving the operation to the North because of alleged inaction by state agencies here.

They claim the IDA failed to engage fully with them and the reaction they have received south of the border was in sharp contrast to the positive response from the equivalent agencies in the North. But that complaint was rejected by a senior IDA official.