IDA investment - Air service in city crucial

Allegations that the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) is “de-emphasising” the importance of Dublin and Cork would seem to be open to interpretation.

In terms of area, the two cities comprise less than 1% of the area of the country, but they contain about 30% of the country’s population.

As most of the area of the country is not industrialised, it is natural that the IDA should therefore invest heavily in the largest urban areas. The cities of Dublin and Cork currently attract 60% of all IDA investments, but this is supposed to be lowered to 50% in the next five years. Such a change would not seem to be unreasonable, considering that 70% of the population lives outside the cities of Dublin and Cork.