John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

The south east was ahead of other regions over the decades with regard to the historical trend but it should not be accepted that this will remain the case. The region's unemployment rate is 25% higher than the national average and it is becoming one big blackspot. Since the action plan was launched there is a consensus of opinion that the State agencies such as IDA Ireland have been working a little harder and I note there are more site visits and itineraries. The different sectoral groups in the agencies have brushed up on Waterford, so to speak. They have visited Waterford and the region and they have acquainted themselves with the strengths and weaknesses. The view resulting from this activity is that the life sciences area such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, may provide a possible cluster of industries which could be developed more strenuously in the south east.

However, what has not happened is a commitment to pull together the local development forum consisting of the local authorities, academics and Departments, on a quarterly basis. I ask the Minister to examine why this has not happened. The Minister has visited the region on three occasions since December but I have been asked why the quarterly meeting of that forum has not happened. I suggest there have been no tangible results in a macro sense for Waterford and the region from the action plan for the south east. There has been no net effect. To be blunt, the efforts so far, even though well intentioned, have not been sufficient.

Large numbers of job losses affect communities to their very core. Such events result in emigration, there is a higher level of crime and they destabilise and undermine the positive work of Government and other groups in many areas of community life.

The Minister must look at the hard facts and acknowledge that the south east requires a different response. The feeling in my constituency is that there is no national imperative to deal with the situation in the south east. There is an imbalance in responses and this is obvious in the figures. In my opinion, the Government needs to address and correct this imbalance even if it means providing additional incentives to potential foreign investors. An unemployment rate of 20% is not just disastrous, it is dangerous and the Government needs to take this on board.

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