Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his presentation and welcome the progress being made in the south east. I am interested in and welcome the additional information we have been provided with in regard to the regional enterprise development strategy. I have been anxious to hear some work is being done in that area and welcome the fact the midlands area is a pilot region for that strategy.

I note there is a recommendation for linkages between the local authorities, the LEOs, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. I wonder if there is scope for consulting with the local development companies as well, given they have done a lot of community work.

I am thinking about the midlands in particular. If we think about the type of skillset that would be available in the midlands, it is an area where there was a significant reliance on ESB and Bord na Móna and it could almost be said a culture developed of being used to the fact there were jobs in those areas over decades. With regard to stimulating the culture of entrepreneurship, the question of what we can do now with those skills is something I would be very interested in developing. While everybody is looking at new technologies, which is as it should be, there are people out there who are very skilled in other areas and there is great potential in that region that could be tapped into. Does the Minister see a role in this regard for local development companies, given the kind of reach they have into communities?