Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Gerstenberger. It is very interesting to hear her perspective. Eurofound representatives are due to come before the committee next month to speak about the work done by the organisation.

I will begin by raising an issue raised by most of our speakers, namely, the regional disparities that exist. In his submission, Councillor Sheehan provides figures on what that disparity means in Ireland. In terms of GDP across Ireland, in the southern and eastern region we are at 145% of the European average but in the Border, midlands and west, BMW, region it is 86%. The difference between the south and east region, therefore, and the BMW region is almost 60%. That is a huge difference in terms of GDP. Councillor Neale Richmond refers to that in the submission and that it could be because the one size fits all approach is not working.

As part of our submission on this work, it is important that we put forward suggestions as to how we can make improvements. Do the witnesses have any specific ideas that could be used to make sure we can address the huge regional disparity? Councillor Sheehan and Councillor Richmond might wish to contribute on that, following which we will have more questions.