Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

While the Minister provided statistics on overall employment, there have been over 570 job losses in Ennis in the past six years. As the Minister will know, Ennis is now the tenth largest town in Ireland with a population of 24,000, which will grow to 35,000 in 15 years. If people want to live there, they must want to work there also. While it is a fine town and the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, will open next week the Organic Lens extension which will provide extra jobs, Ennis has not attracted the level of investment appropriate to a hub town. There are continuing job losses and seven companies have closed in the past six years. What will the Minister do about it? Did he come up with any plan during his recent visits to China and Australia?

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