Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The local authorities of Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon and Kildare will be holding emergency meetings next week. That is because the 15,000 new jobs to which the Tánaiste referred are not very visible on the ground or in that region. I acknowledge the national figures are welcome but most those jobs created for people in the midlands require them to commute to Dublin. We are talking about midlands-specific jobs for midlands-specific people. Up to 450 jobs are being lost. I have asked the Tánaiste a question and he has responded that he agrees with such a forum. If so, will he and his Cabinet put the tools and infrastructure in place to make it real?

Will the Government commit the funds I have asked for to make this real? Will it provide an enterprise and innovation fund to give the midlands the chance to emerge from this? I want answers to those questions.

The Tánaiste mentioned that there will be 14,000 or 15,000 new jobs. My children and others like them have part-time jobs to supplement the cost of their education. They are registered with the Revenue and so these are deemed to be new jobs. I am thankful they have them. However, we are talking about 450 specific jobs. The knock-on effect on our region will be catastrophic. There have been infrastructural improvements in terms of roads and transport links with major cities, which of course has benefitted the area. However, it is now time for this Government to provide a subvention for the area. It must put this forum in place, and make sure that it has teeth and money so that it will have an effect.

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