John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Waterford is one of the worst affected areas in the country for unemployment, a fact that has been acknowledged by the Government on several occasions. The latest live figures show that there are now almost 24,000 people unemployed in the city and county out of 52,000 unemployed in the entire south-east region. Since 2008 some 2,441 IDA Ireland jobs have been lost in Waterford and only 581 jobs have been created. Last year more than 1,100 IDA jobs were created in Cork, 700 were created in Galway, almost 300 were created in Limerick and more than 500 jobs were created in Dundalk. Will the Minister explain why Waterford is always lagging behind the other major urban centres when it comes to foreign direct investment?

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