SINN Féin Kerry Deputy Pa Daly says the IDA needs to do better for the county after it was revealed there was no in-person visit to a Kerry site by the IDA in the first quarter of 2022.

Deputy Daly said earlier this year he called for action from both the IDA and the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce.

“The taskforce has now at least met for the first time but there is room for improvement. The data released by the Department of Enterprise demonstrates that firstly there were no in person visits to sites in Kerry by the IDA in Q1 of 2022,” he said.

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“There were 10 virtual site visits in this time period, although this was technically one visit by a group of 10 companies to Kerry, Limerick and Dublin. Secondly there is a chasm between Kerry and other counties on the Western seaboard in relation to the number of jobs the IDA have assisted in creating.”

“Kerry ranks the lowest of these counties in total employment in IDA Ireland supported companies. This simply isn’t good enough and the economic disparities within the county are pronounced as well.”

“Owing to the high degree of peripherality in Kerry, economic subsidy and government intervention is required. A programme of investment in infrastructure, education and technology would mean the county is not left to the whims of the marketplace.

“Existing economic activity around tourism and food is highly precarious, as the pandemic demonstrated. Kerry must be ready for any coming economic shock and the IDA have a central role to play,” he concluded.