Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I have been canvassing in Roscommon for a good few weekends at this stage and I have detected a strong feeling or experience of a two-tier economy in the State. The experience of the south east is an example of that. With regard to jobs, emigration and poverty, people in Dublin and those in the rest of the State have vastly different experiences. Deputy Lawlor will tell me that it is not just inside the M50 and that there are also bits and pieces out in Kildare as well, but there is a strong feeling that this is still a problem. I welcome the work that has been done on the south east and the developments there. Can the Minister tell us how the regionalisation policy of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland is developing? The IDA is focusing to a greater extent on regionalisation than it has previously, which I welcome.
How did the Government double the level of FDI visits to the south east? We have been on this side of the table a number of times and always request an increase in visits to particular regions. We are usually told that FDI will go where it goes and that we are in competition with Scotland, Singapore, etc. It is stated that a win is a win for the country and we cannot dictate where FDI should go. What tools were used with regard to doubling visits to that area?
Interestingly, the Minister mentioned mittelstand, an area where Irish enterprise is very weak. Can he speak about some of the developments in growing that section of enterprise?