Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. She mentioned that in 2016 the north west had 20 IDA sponsored site visits to County Sligo. Are any of those ongoing and, if so, what progress has been made? Does the Minister receive an update on all the visits? Are they successful or are clients going elsewhere? As the Minister knows, in my constituency the highest number of commercial vacancies are in County Sligo. The national unemployment rate is 6.6% but it is much higher in my constituency. I have heard announcements concerning foreign direct investment in Dublin and elsewhere on the east coast, but our area has a major problem with Brexit which is coming down the tracks quickly.

The Minister rightly referred to Enterprise Ireland and I acknowledge its work as well as the work being done by local enterprise offices or LEOs. In the third level sector, Sligo Institute of Technology and St. Angela's College produce an adequate number of talented graduates. However, I have expressed my concern about jobs in my constituency to the Minister on a number of occasions.

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