Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegates. I am quite aware of a lot of the work that IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland do. There has been a lot of interaction in Mullingar. The Science Park has been a great success. I refer in particular to the use of the former tobacco factory, which would have been a real eyesore only for the good work ethic and great business acumen of Mr. Garret Moore and those who came in behind him. In this regard, I must mention Mr. Tommy Kelly and Mr. John Hunt of TEG and Mr. Pat Beirne and the guys in Mergon. The development has been a huge success story. It is a breath of fresh air to go to the factory and see what is happening there.

I am trying to be very objective. Patterson Pump Ireland in is the IDA park in Mullingar. I was involved in some representations for the company. It has been a good success story. It moved to its current location from Lynn Industrial Estate.

Talent, third level education and getting second stations to locate further down the country were mentioned. Maybe a different focus is needed on some of the regional parks. Perhaps they are more suited to indigenous companies. These have proven to be the only companies that have taken up the spaces. Perhaps we need to consider these places slightly differently. Everybody wants to be in Dublin or around the M50, unfortunately, but Mullingar is only 50 minutes from the M50 and it is close to the M4 and M6. Perhaps we should change our expectations regarding the types of companies that will locate in some of the places. I am sure the delegates are hearing all about Sligo and every other town, including Limerick and Dundalk. Athlone has been quite successful. We have talked about some of the other regional towns and what has occurred there but I am curious to hear the delegates' thoughts on what might be the way forward.