KERRY TD and election candidate John Brassil wants clarification on the situation at the IDA facility at Kerry Technology Park.

The Fianna Fáil TD has also called on the IDA to appoint a senior executive with sole responsibility for Kerry to attract more foreign direct investment into the county.

Speaking as IDA figures show a growth of just 37% in IDA supported companies in the South West region compared with an 86% increase in the South East of the country, Brassil says that Kerry is depending on scraps from the IDA table.

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He called for further clarification as to what is happening with the Central Pharma project in the Kerry Technology Park, a jobs announcement that was made by the IDA over 12 months ago, but has now been delayed.

“Kerry needs its own senior executive from the IDA with special responsibility for attracting companies and jobs to Kerry. Dublin is overheating at the expense of counties like Kerry. Unbalanced economic growth has been allowed to develop resulting in two separate economies on the one island.

“What we are seeing is a two tier recovery. We need to send a clear message to Fine Gael that Ireland doesn’t end at the Red Cow roundabout. Kerry is not seeing the same benefits as the East of the Country. That is clearly spelt out in the IDAs own figures.

“Some 40% of Ireland’s population live in the greater Dublin area. This is a dangerous trend for the future economic growth of the country as a whole.

“The presence of large multinational companies like Kerry Group, DairyMaster, JRI, Aspen Grove and Fexco show that Kerry is perfectly poised to become a powerhouse of job creation, culture and growth. We need a new focus from the IDA and the Kerry business and political community need to come together to exert this pressure on the IDA,” he said.