Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In February 2011, when this Government took office, the deficit of €20 billion was lumbered on the backs of the Irish people. The country was haemorrhaging 1,600 jobs per week, our international reputation was in tatters and our economic sovereignty was lost. A total of 460,000 people were unemployed, existing businesses were struggling and losing competitiveness, with debt levels out of control. The banking system was insolvent, credit had dried up and emigration was rampant. The construction sector was decimated. There was a real risk at that time that our essential social services, including education, health and social welfare, would collapse. That is the legacy of the Fianna Fáil-led Government in 2011. I am glad to say that I am part of a Government that faced up to its responsibilities and took on its shoulders the responsibility of the mandate from the Irish people. We were faced with an unprecedented disastrous situation. Difficult choices had to be made to stabilise the economy, to restore our international reputation, to cut the deficit and to bring our public finances under control, to recover our economy and to create job opportunities and growth.

I thank the people for their resilience in staying the course in the difficult times. They deserve great credit for the progress that has been made. The small and medium enterprises and employers who have traded through these difficult times deserve great credit. They have sacrificed much but they have proven again that Irish resilience and fight-back can work. We are now beginning to see the first signs of recovery.

The options for the Government to work through this process were developed gradually and it has been a difficult period. I am a backbench Deputy who supports the Government I have supported difficult budgets but the signs of recovery are visible. The levels of employment are rising as unemployment figures are reducing. The Government has stabilised the economy and brought the public finances under control.

I agree with previous speakers who have referred to balanced regional development. I welcome my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, from the south-east region, who shares many of my concerns with regard to balanced regional development. There has been a debate about issues such as the housing crisis and rental problems in the Dublin area. Dublin as the capital city is the first city to come out of the recession but property prices are rising as a consequence. I hope they will never rise to the same heights of previous years because housing and rents must be affordable. The answer lies in balanced regional development.

I come from Waterford in the south-east region where the unemployment rates are particularly high, if not the highest in the country. There needs to be a focus on delivering essential services and jobs to those regions by the Departments and agencies. I refer to the regional aid programme which is due to be reviewed.

In the period 2007 to 2013, regional aid for large companies in the south east was 10%, while for similar companies in the BMW region it was 15%. For medium firms, the rate was 20%, compared with 25% for the BMW region. Likewise, while smaller firms elsewhere received 30% aid, those in the BMW region were allocated aid of 35%. The statistics clearly show that high unemployment rates in specific areas require a review and rebalancing of regional aid in favour of the regions that are under serious economic pressure. The south east is one of those regions.

I am calling on the Government to review the regional aid programme and, in its submission to Europe, to ensure an increase in the allocation of regional aid to Waterford and the south east. We must have an equal playing field and an opportunity for new businesses to be established in that region to address the unemployment problem there. Other issues that need to be addressed in respect of the south east include regional infrastructure, a university for the region, provision of a fibre telecommunications cable, safeguarding of essential services and a greater focus from IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

We have an opportunity now to grasp the opportunities and potential that are out there, but it must be done in a fair and equitable way. Balanced regional development is the best way forward for the country as a whole.

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