Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for the opportunity to bring this very important issue to the attention of the House. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, to give a commitment that a new IDA manager will be appointed for the north west and that the Letterkenny IDA office will remain open and will remain as a hub for attracting new industry to Donegal and the north west.

In recent weeks, the outgoing manager for the region has been promoted to a national role working with engineering companies, which means that the role is now vacant. In addition, the other member of staff in Letterkenny has also been appointed to a national role. This means that the Letterkenny office is not now working in the way it was before, namely, working to attract industry to Donegal and the north west. I urge the Minister of State to give a commitment that this situation will be rectified immediately and that we will continue to have, as we have always had in recent years, an office in Letterkenny working to ensure industry is attracted to the area.

I am particularly concerned that the IDA has made this move without first ensuring it had an exemption and permission from the Minister for Finance to replace that role and appoint a new north west manager before moving the person out of the role. That shows where the IDA's priorities currently lie, which is not with ensuring the north west and Donegal have people working on its behalf to ensure we get our fair share of investment. This, allied with the fact the IDA manager for the north-east region of Monaghan, Cavan and Louth has not been replaced either since retirement, indicates that the IDA is moving away from giving the support that is required to Border counties.

I very much hope the Minister of State will be able to give us an assurance that the situation will return to the way it was before, and that we will have a manager and an office. In these difficult times, foreign investment has been the key to driving Donegal, in particular Letterkenny, which has been a gateway area. I will give some examples of how this has benefited the town and the county. In September 2009, SITA announced an extra 80 jobs to bring its employment level up to 150. In December 2010, Zeus Medical Devices invested €10 million to create 75 new jobs over three years. Pramerica has been expanding constantly since 2000 to a point where it now has in excess of 800 employees. In July last year the UnitedHealth Group announced 200 new jobs to add to its total of 340.

As we all know, it is more difficult to attract jobs to the regions, which is why the regional manager structure and the regional office structure have been in place in recent years. During these most difficult of times for attracting investment, I hope the new Government will not announce it is moving away from a structure which has been important for County Donegal and the north west. I urge the Minister to give us a commitment on the appointment of a new north west regional manager for the IDA and on the retention of an office in Letterkenny.

See this speech in context