Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for once again giving me the opportunity of raising the matter of chronic unemployment in Donegal on the Adjournment. What prompted me to raise this issue again this evening is the planned closure of the Seagate plant in Limavady. This highlights once more the continuous high level of unemployment in the north west and particularly in Donegal, where unemployment is at the appalling rate of four times the national average.

Since 1997, almost 10,000 industrial jobs have been lost throughout County Donegal, not just in my own constituency but in the entire county. In my own parish, Gweedore, a small Gaeltacht parish with which I am sure the Minister of State, if not the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, is familiar, 1,200 industrial jobs have been lost in the last few years. This is perhaps the equivalent of 100,000 jobs in my colleague Deputy Varadkar's city of Dublin. For example, 115 jobs were lost in Dianorm, 300 jobs in RMT, 50 jobs in Europlast, 280 jobs in Qualtron, 200 jobs in Comerama, 60 jobs in MDR, and 120 jobs in BMR. The list goes on.

These high levels of unemployment are not confined to my own parish. Last year we lost 600 jobs at Hospira in Donegal town, preceded by the loss of 120 jobs at Nena Models in Ballybofey and Stranorlar. There was also the closure of the Fruit of the Loom plants, which were located in five areas of Donegal, with the loss of 3,200 jobs. Almost 10,000 industrial jobs have been lost in ten years. What a terrible record for any Government or two successive Governments. As a senior trade union official in Donegal, who is leaving the county, said last week, the county has been shamefully neglected by this Government and its two predecessors. It is time something was done about this. We have had plans, task forces, suggestions and much talk. Everything has been delivered except jobs.

Three areas must be given priority in the county to attract industry and jobs because our industrial base is decimated. First, there is need for a major improvement in the infrastructure in the county, whether through access to the county, communications and telecommunications within it or facilities such as sewerage and water, recreation and education.

Having said that, our educational facilities in the north west are excellent. LYIT in Letterkenny is excellent and there is something similar in Galway, with graduates being produced every year. We all are invited to conferrings this at time of the year and I cannot see any reason that positions should not be available to some of these highly qualified, trained, eager, anxious young people in their areas.

The second area the Government must improve is access to the county, whether through the Republic or through Northern Ireland. Perhaps this is an area where both Administrations, the new devolved Government in Northern Ireland and ourselves, could get together with the support of Westminster.

Third, and perhaps most important, a county such as Donegal, with four times the national unemployment rate and which has lost 10,000 industrial jobs in the past ten years, is crying out for tax designation. This has been provided in other parts of the country. A number of years ago it was given to the upper Shannon basin — parts of Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, etc. Last year in the budget it was again extended to the lower or mid-Shannon basin by the Minister for Finance. Something imaginative such as that must be provided for Donegal if we are serious about tackling in a meaningful way this chronic, long-lasting continuous unemployment problem.

See this speech in context