Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister read out statistics relating to County Tipperary. I specifically asked about Tipperary town and west Tipperary but she avoided that completely. If it were not for the Tipperary Co-operative, Brodeen Fabrications, a multitude of small businesses there and the voluntary sector, Tipperary town would be closed down. The Government is doing nothing for it. It adds insult to injury when the Minister reads out that list. We welcome the foreign direct investment jobs in Clonmel and elsewhere in the county and the new things happening at Lisheen mines. Although the Minister might not be aware of the geography, I thought the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, might be able to tell her that this is about Tipperary town and its environs in west Tipperary, where there are no jobs, no supports and, apart from one recent endeavour, no business from IDA Ireland. The people there need assistance. They are a very proud and enterprising people who are very active in the voluntary sector but they need supports. The Pobal index indicates that in recent years some areas of Tipperary town had unemployment rates of over 30%. The unemployment rate for young people there is shocking. The young people of the town go to its great schools, move on to university and never return to the town as there is nothing to keep them there. The Minister missed the point completely while reading out her prepared script. This is about Tipperary town and west Tipperary, as the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, well knows. I hope the Minister visits it very soon to see the situation on the ground for herself.

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