Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Painfully. I will not labour the point as we are short of time. In the midlands, the figure is 4,280, which is the lowest for the regions. Laois has been one of the fastest growing counties in terms of population and the witnesses mentioned population and urban trends in the opening statement. The population of Portlaoise, as the witnesses know, is substantially higher than Tullamore, Athlone and Mullingar. IDA Ireland has not responded to the change in the demographics and the witnesses know the position. I invite Mr. Shanahan to a meeting in Laois as IDA Ireland makes an annual visit to Laois County Council. It is the usual slagging off of IDA Ireland as we know the number of visits and jobs being created in the county. There are approximately 100 jobs or something like that. It is a very small number. There is a site and Laois County Council recently purchased a site adjacent to the motorway. I am sure the councillors will speak to the agency about that. Could we arrange for the chief executive of the agency to meet council members? I will liaise with Mr. Shanahan's office in that regard. It is great to have the good news stories all the time but the agency does have an obligation to other counties. For a long number of years, Laois has been the lowest performing area for IDA Ireland.