David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's response and her intention to visit the south-east region. I, of course, will take up the opportunity to meet her when she visits and I hope she will have good meetings with stakeholders across the region. I also wish to take the opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of her predecessor, Deputy Bruton, who, to be fair, shone a spotlight on the south-east region and chaired an action group that has made some difference. I acknowledge this and am not being negative in respect of the Government's approach. However, the Minister's response acknowledges we have real structural problems in the region that must be addressed. While the unemployment figures have fallen marginally ahead of the national figures, they are pretty much in line with where the national decline was and consequently, there still is a massive 4% gap between the national figure and the regional figure. The gap is huge and cannot be underestimated for real people who are out of work and for whom jobs are not there. There is an unemployment rate of less than 7% in Dublin but yet the equivalent rate in the south east is 12.5%. Moreover, it is much higher in some parts of my constituency of Waterford where there are unemployment black spots even within a region that is suffering. Consequently, I appeal to the Minister to engage with the enterprise agencies first and foremost and to work collaboratively with other Ministers. She should work with the Minister for Education and Skills to ensure the region gets the university it needs and with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, on the transport issue to deal with funding for the airport and on other measures.

If the Minister gets the opportunity at some point to read the south east economic development strategy, she will see many of the recommendations made which are practical, realistic, sensible, deliverable and will make a difference as they have not yet been implemented. They could form part of a revised jobs action plan for the region.

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