asked the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism if he has any plans for new industry for Tralee, County Kerry, where there are 3,800 unemployed.

I am aware of the unemployment situation in Tralee.

In September 1983 the Industrial Development Authority established an office in Tralee and are continuing to promote the town as a priority area for industrial development.

A number of companies in the town — Kerry Fashions, Shop Vac and Swiss Wire — are undertaking expansions which will create an additional 177 jobs between them. Efforts are continuing to secure a take-over for the Kingdom Tubes factory in Tralee.

The IDA have over 31,000 sq. ft. of advance factory space and 37 acres of land available in Tralee for further industrial development. The 5×750 sq. ft. small industry units completed in Tralee in March of this year are all reserved for small industrial projects.

Something must be done for the 3,800 people who are unemployed in Tralee. The unemployment rate in County Kerry is 22 per cent, the second highest in the country. Would the Minister ask the IDA to have Kerry or Tralee designated an area for special consideration or appoint a special task force to deal with the unemployment problem in Tralee and north Kerry?

While I accept that the level of unemployment is quite high in Tralee, the rate of growth in unemployment there in the past year has been well below the national average. It has been between 2 per cent and 3 per cent whereas the national average growth in unemployment has been about 13.5 per cent. This lower rate of increase is partly due to the work of the IDA. I have indicated a significant list of projects where expansions in employment have either taken place or are definitely to take place in the near future. Tralee already qualifies for the highest level of industrial grants and is, by virtue of its designated status, getting preferential treatment.

The closure of the Kingdom Tubes factory meant the loss of 295 jobs. I have tabled another question about that matter. An American group were there over three weeks ago and it is very unlikely that we will hear from them again.

The Deputy should not dismiss this possibility just because they have not come back within three weeks. People of this kind would make a very significant investment if they decided to commit themselves and they would probably have to consider it at one or more board meetings of their company. It would be entirely premature to reach such a pessimistic conclusion.

Maybe Deputy McEllistrim knows more about it.

It is not logical. They do not come up with a decision immediately on visiting a place.

Tralee is a disaster area which needs very special attention from the IDA. The fact that we have an IDA representative there does not mean very much to us. He will not attract industrialists to the town.

He is there to promote small industry ideas among local people. That is his purpose. The attraction of inward investment from abroad is mainly done by the IDA's foreign office network.

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