asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if grants or loan assistance will be provided for private industrial estate developers which would enable private estates to be developed without the total cost being put on the Exchequer.

Under existing legislation, grants or loan assistance from State sources cannot be provided for the development of private industrial estates. However, an industrialist who rents or buys a factory from a private developer, or who builds his own factory on a site provided by a private developer, is eligible for the same percentage grant as would apply if he were setting up in a factory owned and built by the IDA or SFADCo.