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

I again acknowledge the difficulty that the Aptar job losses present for Ballinasloe and the surrounding area, in particular the individuals and families directly affected.

I met with the western regional enterprise steering committee on Friday 11 December by videoconference. The committee is comprised of representatives of various agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the local enterprise offices, LEOs, the local authority chief executives, the regional skills forum manager, the Western Development Commission, higher and further education institutes, and Fáilte Ireland. The committee implements the regional enterprise plan for the west and considers new and emerging issues for the region. The meeting focused on one agenda item, which was maximising enterprise development potential in the west. It was noted that the life sciences sector, ag-tech and creative sectors offer particular opportunity for further growth through start-ups, business growth and new investment. The IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs will continue to work with stakeholders in the region to secure sustainable employment opportunities in the west, including but not exclusively Ballinalsoe.

The IDA is going to promote the Aptar property to prospective foreign and indigenous companies and I am encouraged to hear that 60 of the former Aptar employees have already secured alternative employment and that Harmac is going to expand its operations in Castlerea. I also expect 30 more jobs to be announced in Galway city in the next few days.

In the coming months, we want to refresh the regional enterprise plan for each region, including the west, to generate a pipeline of new investment, enterprise growth and economic recovery, in line with the objectives of the forthcoming national economic plan. I have asked the west regional committee to begin this work.

I was encouraged to hear that the Western Development Commission will provide a programme manager, with whom I met the other day, on an interim basis. The commission is now actively working with the four local authorities in the region to put a longer term arrangement in place for the development and implementation of the new regional enterprise plan for the west.

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