The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Criticism of IDA is nothing new
THE sudden closure of Borg Warner’s plant in Tralee is not the only reason the IDA is coming under pressure in Kerry.
Just last month councillors in the Tralee Municipal District sought urgent clarification from the IDA about a UK pharmaceutical packaging firm’s plans to open a plant in Tralee.
In December 2018, Bedford-based Central Pharma – who provide outsourced medicine packaging and supply services – announced that it was to move into the IDA-built €5 million Advance Manufacturing Facility at Kerry Technology Park.
The company said it would create 100 jobs and invest some €2 million to bring the building up to the required standards, with the high-tech packaging plant expected to be up and running by July 2019. A year after the plant was due to open, it remains empty and last January it emerged that the company had told the IDA it was delaying its plans for Tralee.
Since then there has been no official comment on the situation from Central Pharma or the IDA.
At the July monthly meeting of the Tralee Municipal District, Fine Gael Councillor Jim Finucane demanded an urgent update on the situation from the IDA.
“This is an asset that cost several million Euro and it’s still empty. It beggars belief that such a major piece of infrastructure is in ‘no man’s land’. This is turning out to be a bit of a débâcle,” he said at the time.
“What is the situation? Who has the lease and what’s happening?” Cllr Finucane asked.
As yet there has been no clarification. Aside from the Borg Warner and Central Pharma situations the IDA is frequently criticised for the lack of potential investors it has brought to visit sites in Kerry.
Since 2016 the IDA’s Kerry representatives – who are primarily Cork based – brought 27 potential investors to Kerry. In the same period it brought 229 to Cork and 183 to Limerick.
According to the most recent figures, for 2019, there were 2,176 IDA supported jobs in Kerry last year. Last week 10 per cent of those were lost.