asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy if he has held any consultations with the IDA on the location of industry in inner city areas of Dublin where there is high unemployment.

Since assuming office I have had considerable consultations with the Industrial Development Authority concerning industrial development in the Dublin area and, in particular, concerning the special problems associated with industrialisation in the inner city. I would refer the Deputy to the reply which I gave to a question on 22 March 1979 regarding industrial development in the Dublin city area in which I indicated that the IDA are at present proceeding with a £4 million programme to provide 270,000 square feet of factory space with potential to accommodate 1,200 jobs at the Liberties, Pearse Street and East Wall, with a further 800 jobs at other locations over the next two years and that the development of small industries in the inner city will continue to be actively promoted.

The Deputy will be aware moreover that an inter-departmental committee under the chairmanship of the Department of Economic Planning and Development have been set up to recommend policy decisions and other measures to be taken in relation to the inner city area. Both my Department and the IDA are represented on this committee who are considering, inter alia, the principal issues affecting industrial development.