Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was devastating news indeed. I am in the happy position of knowing quite a number of Bose workers from my constituency of Louth, especially people in the Ardee and Dundalk areas. They enjoyed their experiences and were very committed to the company. Like me, they were very disappointed at the sudden turn of events. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland are extremely annoyed at the turn of events and the completely unacceptable manner in which the devastating news was imparted to the employees.

As I stated, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, will meet with Bose executives at the earliest opportunity. He will raise all of the issues Deputy Smith has expressed in the Chamber today on behalf of the people of Carrickmacross and all who are currently employed at Bose. I am very conscious of the difficulties in attracting new industry to regional centres. For that reason, we have initiated the development of new regional strategies to be rolled out this year as part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2015, which was launched today. I am hopeful that the initiative and its momentum will help to reinvigorate the industrial base of areas of the country that are away from the main urban centres, areas such as Carrickmacross, and other areas across the Border region. As Deputy Smith is aware, the IDA has had considerable success in attracting new industry to County Louth, for example, in recent years. The Carrickmacross area is not too far away from Louth. It is just across the border, and the two areas have much in common in terms of the skilled and dedicated workforce and the good infrastructure in the area, with the N2, which is very close to main urban centres in both Northern Ireland and the South.

In addition, Enterprise Ireland has made significant strides in job creation among client companies in the indigenous sector, with 8,476 net new jobs being created in 2014. Monaghan has enjoyed some success in that regard also. The numbers employed in Enterprise Ireland’s agency companies in Monaghan have risen from 3,638 in 2009 to 4,170 last year. That is a significant achievement and a major jump in a short period.

Eighteen thousand more people are at work in the Border region in the past couple of years since the action plan for jobs was initiated in 2012. That is not to say that there are no challenges. The problems experienced in Carrickmacross as a result of this devastating announcement illustrate one of the major challenges we have as a country to ensure balanced regional development right across the country, not just in the major towns and cities but in the Border region and everywhere else. An area like County Monaghan needs investment and can attract investment because of its location and workforce.

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this matter and I will communicate his concerns to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, as I know he takes this matter extremely seriously.

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