Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

There were three companies.

Jobs are announced years before elections and sometimes they are never created, just like those announced before the election in 2002. Kildare was promised 400 civil servants during that election campaign but never received them.

In the 2007 general election campaign, there was a big announcement that Amgen would create jobs. This was a particularly bad case as the announcement was a form of canvassing. The then Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, said the creation of the jobs was a vote of confidence in the Irish economy but, behind all the rhetoric, she was really saying, "Please vote for me because I am delivering these jobs". The jobs were never created. The head of the corporate sector in the United States was involved in regard to the announcement. Cork County Council spent hundreds of thousands of euro putting in place infrastructure and on site preparation. Will the council be reimbursed? The Government should stop playing ducks and drakes with people's lives. Ultimately, this is the result of making announcements to garner votes. Employment and investment comprise a very serious subject and they determine how people live their lives. We should be discussing them constantly, not just when considering Private Members' motions.

See this speech in context