Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While that is all positive, there is a hunger on the ground for an awful lot more. The Minister referred to the Minister for Rural and Community Development. He is the Minister who said Ireland is unbalanced. It will continue to be unbalanced for as long as we do not have ambition for counties such as Mayo. The Minister referred to the innovation hub. It is a superb project led by Mayo County Council and Moy Valley Resources, which has been turned down for many projects by Enterprise Ireland. This is the kind of ambition we have in the county. We have a superb LEO. With more resources and support from the Department, we could do an awful lot more in small companies and big companies.

There is no sense in going on about the 16 IDA Ireland companies. We are incredibly proud of them and the Mayo workforce, yet around us, in counties Sligo, Galway, Longford, Roscommon, new IDA Ireland companies are coming in and giving people the opportunity to come home. We see the pressure Dublin is under. There are many people who will come home for Christmas and will have to leave again afterwards. They want to work and create businesses in Mayo and be given the opportunity to do so. What we do not have is support from Departments, including the Minister's Department, to match the ambition and determination of the people of County Mayo.

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