Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's officials in response to the Nevin institute report said 70% of net job creation was in the Dublin and mid-east regions. Statistics have been tweaked to make them look good but job creation in these two regions far exceeds every other region. The figure for the Border region is skewed by the fact that County Louth is included in it. The situation is much worse than it appears in counties Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim and this has to be addressed. I await to see whether the Action Plan for Jobs will address this imbalance. It is vitally important for the north west and for the overall development of the country that this be dealt with. The east region cannot continue to sustain the migration rate into it, which is happening because there are no jobs in the rest of the country. The Department accepts that 70% of net job creation was in the Dublin and mid-east regions rather than 90%. The Minister has to address that.

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