Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not mean this in any way to be critical but it is important to look at the numbers and not the headlines. If we look at the numbers they show well over 60% of jobs created in recent years have been created outside of Dublin. The lowest unemployment is now in the Border counties and the second lowest unemployment is in the south west, which is the Cork and Kerry region. To give some small examples of the recent announcements, there were 350 in Sligo by Abtran, 200 in Athlone by Neueda, 600 in Limerick by Edwards, 400 by WuXi in Dundalk, 200 by Combilift in Monaghan, 350 by Chanelle in Loughrea, 175 by Fexco in Killorglin, 500 by Abbott in Donegal Town, 100 by Entekra in Monaghan, 100 by Overstock in Sligo, another 90 by E+I Engineering in Donegal and 80 by Crust & Crumb in Cavan. The list goes on. The whole point of Project Ireland 2040, the investment in transport and infrastructure now under way, the investment in broadband that will start next year and the rural and urban funds is to do exactly what the Deputy suggests, which is to bring economic development to all parts of the country because we have an uneven recovery. We have a recovery everywhere but it is uneven and this is what Project Ireland 2040 is all about.

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