Mr. Ciaran Corcoran:

In regard to the comment Deputy Martin Kenny made about a self-perpetuating situation, recent jobs growth figures from IDA Ireland show that the south-east and south-west regions gained over 10,000 new jobs between 2012 and 2016. In the same period, the figure for the north west and the midlands combined was less than 1,000. That is the scale of the gap which is there.