Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I raise this issue in the context of the recently launched mid-west task force because we have an historical task force institution in County Donegal. In 1999 the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, launched a task force for the county with great fanfare. Her successor, Deputy Martin, came up with a novel idea and launched an interdepartmental working group in 2002 to address unemployment in Donegal. The Government is very much in the business of buying time by setting up task forces. I would like a progress report on the work of the task force and the interdepartmental working group because the figures speak for themselves. More than 20,000 people in my county are unemployed and the stark reality is there does not seem to be a plan or a vision to address this issue.

The Minister needs to examine not only job retention in the north west but also to go a step further with job creation. A company from Houston, Texas, has a Donegal connection and it wants to set up in the county but the problem is there is competition from Invest Northern Ireland, which is offering better incentives to the company to set up in the North. I have highlighted the issue over the past six months. If banks are not lending and commerce is grinding to a halt, investment has to come from Government. In the past peripheral counties such as Donegal relied on capital spending and it maximised its allocation to build harbours and piers, roads and bridges but that investment is not happening. This year's roads budget excludes viable projects such as the Letterkenny-Manorcunningham road and a link road and relief road for Letterkenny. The harbour development project in Greencastle, which has great potential, has ground to a halt. The reason the money was invested in the first place was the harbour was a health and safety hazard. However, 20 jobs will be lost and this is another example of jobs being lost that could be retained through appropriate investment.

Marine Harvest Ireland engages in salmon production in Donegal. The company has an excellent sustainable and viable business along the west coast but time and time again it comes up against the problem of over regulation and a lack of proactivity in the area of licensing. The Government and Opposition must sit down and realise the company is afraid the 240 jobs it provides will be lost if it does not secure licences. Licensing has been an issue for 15 years. Fallow sites are needed to maintain salmon production. The Minister of State is familiar with agricultural production. One does not set potatoes in the same field every year. The same principle applies to fishing. Salmon cages cannot be left on the same site all the time and they need to be moved.

Those involved in the industry are anxious to ensure fallow sites are secured in order that salmon can be moved in the interest of sustainability and environmental protection but this company is not being permitted to do that. The hands of management are tied. All they need is action from senior Ministers, including the Minister of State, to ensure regulation does not inhibit their progress and to make sure they are not only able to retain jobs but also to create jobs in the future.

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