Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

The unemployment rate in Tipperary is 18.5%, almost double the national average. In the past three years, there was a net loss of 321 IDA jobs in the county. All towns in Tipperary have been excluded from the building of advanced factories and offices by the IDA. Tipperary is not getting its fair share of investment and job creation.

The Minister's Department and the jobs agencies have been aware since 2012 that the Tullamore Dew facility at Clonmel was to cease operations. Effectively, he subsidised the transfer of jobs to Tullamore by way of giving grants for the distillery. In the current circumstances, will the Minister at least set up a jobs task force for the county to ensure that Tipperary gets its fair share of jobs investment into the future?

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