Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

According to last year's census, there were 12,184 more people working in County Mayo than when the 1996 census was published. The population of Mayo has risen by 5.3% to 117,466. Last year alone, I issued 788 work permits to companies in Mayo because they could not find local employees. Some 1,431 new houses were built in Mayo over the past year, which represents an increase of 41%. For example, 401 Mayo people were treated under the treatment purchase fund.

Many positive things are happening in Mayo but, as with other counties, the towns are doing better than the more peripheral regions to which the Deputy has referred. We must be realistic because it will not be easy to get economic activity to the some of the more remote places in north Mayo. The focus is around places like Ballina, Castlebar and Westport, as well as Knock Airport where some decentralisation will take place.

These places will do best but it is to be hoped the whole county will benefit as a result of the economic activity which will be generated there.

In regard to the IDA not giving any money to the west coast, when the Good Friday Agreement was being negotiated, it was suggested that we should have a single agency for inward investment for the island which would operate on the basis that, for every two projects we gained for the South, one would have to go to the North. In theory, this sounds fair but the reality is that if we gained two projects for the South and could not get one for the North, we could not progress the existing projects. Some things do not work in reality.

The €1.6 billion Intel plant which we recently negotiated will benefit the entire country, including the revenue base and education system. We must be realistic. The target is for 50% of the new greenfield jobs to be located in the BMW region. Now that the IDA pipeline is so good, we believe we can reach that target by 2006.

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