Brassil stresses importance of finalising deal on Kerry Technology Park

Kerry County Councillor and General Election candidate John Brassil has said significant employment opportunities could be brought to the county through the further development of Kerry Technology Park in Tralee.

Councillor Brassil said “the full potential of the technology park, which spans over 50 acres, is not being realised at the moment and a deal between Kerry County Council and the IT offers huge scope for new jobs and new investment.”

“There are 16 companies on site in Kerry Technology Park at the moment and over 300 people are employed but I believe if a deal can be secured between the IT and the council we will have greater opportunities for promotion and attract new inward investment.

“At the moment the park is owned by Shannon NewCo, the company formed out of the merger of Shannon Airport and Shannon Development.  The joint bid by Kerry County Council and ITT would be hugely beneficial for the park and for the county.

“I have a number of serious reservations about the government’s Action Plan for Jobs for the South West region published this month.  The plan talks about “strengthening the capacity of the region to attract new inward investment and increase the number of IDA investments by 30-40% over the period 2015-2019, equating to 139 new investment projects.” The plan goes on to say that the “IDA will also provide an advanced technology building in Kerry in 2016.” We need more detail on what this will mean for Kerry and what promotion will be undertaken to bring new investors to the county.

“According to the CSO there were 11,213 people signing on the Live Register in Kerry in September.  We need an immediate short-term strategy to drive employment opportunities as well as more medium and longer-term plans.  I hope we can see a resolution to the Kerry Technology Park ownership before the end of the year so Kerry County Council can get to work early in 2016 with bringing forward plans to further develop the park.”