Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

I am pleased to hear that some of the long-term unemployed will be looked after. This has been a bone of contention in many communities where regeneration has taken place, that the contracting of local people has always been ruled out. We have been told time and again that it is due to EU directives. The Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy, was able to ensure that projects undertaken in the North did involve local contracts. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that we can get contracts awarded to local people. In Ballymun in particular local labour was not directly employed in many of the schemes and those employed were generally not local people. There was a spin-off in terms of different types of jobs but the direct employment of people on building sites was always a big bone of contention.

I accept what the Minister said. I am pleased to hear that some unemployed people will be looked after in Limerick.

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