asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the number, location and floor area of advance factories erected by the IDA in each of the past five years; and the number of employees, male and female, now employed in each of them.

Between March 1972 and December 1976 52 advance factories, excluding factories in industrial estates, with a total floor area of 745,792 sq. ft. were completed by the Industrial Development Authority. With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate a list showing the location and floor area of each.

I understand that 36 of these factories are occupied at present. As information on employment levels supplied to the IDA by individual firms is given on a confidential basis I am not in a position to release employment figures in respect of each of these firms. I understand however that a total of 1,257 persons, comprising 849 men and 408 women, were employed in these factories on 1st January last.

Following is the statement:

Advance factories constructed by IDA from 1st April 1972—31st December 1976.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether a tenant has been found for the advance factory at Oldcastle?

There is no tenant yet for that factory.

The Parliamentary Secretary will appreciate that, for reasons known to the House, Oldcastle no longer forms part of my constituency, but can he say what are the prospects of finding a tenant for this advance factory?

The Deputy's interest in Oldcastle is appreciated. The IDA are in the process of negotiations in relation to the possibility for Oldcastle, but I would not wish to go further than that as there is nothing certain at this stage.

17.

asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the proposals the IDA have for the erection of advance factories; and the location, floor area and expected date for commencement of work on each.

Excluding three factories at present under construction the Industrial Development Authority currently have plans for the construction of 17 advance factories. With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate, with the Official Report, a statement indicating the location and floor area of each.

I understand that detailed planning is at an advanced stage for most of these factories and that it is planned to commence construction at all of the locations in question during 1977. It is not possible to give individual starting dates as these are subject to receipt of the necessary planning permission.

Following is the statement:

STATEMENT indicating the location and floor area of advance factories planned for construction by the I.D.A.

Is it either wise or fair to continue building advance factories while so many such buildings have been vacant for the past four years?

As the Deputy knows, in most cases the advance factories are being built in locations where there are no other advance factories vacant. They are being built in the light of the needs of specific areas. In their very recent plans the IDA are contemplating on building larger advance factories than was the case previously. They are concentrating, too, on siting these factories in the larger towns having regard to employment needs. The existence of smaller factories in other parts of the country is not a solution to the problems in the town in which the advance factories are in the process of being built.

The Parliamentary Secretary is missing the point in relation to those factories that have been built already in what we used to regard as undeveloped areas, a description which, unfortunately, now seems to be applied to the whole country. Is it fair to those areas on the western seaboard in which advance factories have been erected that a choice is now being made available to potential industrialists in regard to areas of larger populations?

The point I was endeavouring to make was that the type of factory being built now is different from those built in the past. As the list I am having circulated will show, the average size of the advance factories being built now is 24,000 square feet. These factories cater for industries that are of a different type from the ones that would be carried on in the average-size factory to which the Deputy referred. Consequently, there would be no question of competition.

I should say that, as I explained on the last occasion on which the Deputy raised this matter, a certain time lag between the building and the filling of an advance factory is likely. Such a building could not properly be called an advance factory if one knew from the beginning what industry would be carried on there.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware——

I shall allow the Deputy a brief supplementary.

——that given the proper industrial climate such factories can be either sold or let from the drawing boards but that no such climate exists? Would he agree also, that the proposal to build more of these factories is merely a pre-election gimmick?

I agree that there are problems in the world market for industrial exports. To a large extent these factories are to be filled by people involved in export industries. Obviously there is a problem in conditions in which there is a depression in regard to the demand for industrial goods, but that is not a problem that is within the control of this Government or of any other national government. I would not accept for one moment the strange implication in the Deputy's question that the building of these factories is related to the general election. There is a continuing programme on the part of the IDA of building advance factories and in this regard they have available vastly enhanced resources from the Government.

It would be better to use the money for the creation of a proper industrial climate.