Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The truth is that the Sligo area and the whole north west has always been behind because we do not have the infrastructure or technological expertise needed to maintain jobs in the area. Many of us are sending our children to college to get degrees but there are no jobs for graduates in the north west. That is a problem that needs to be addressed. The only way to regrow and facilitate work for people in the north west is to put the infrastructure and investment in. Government has a key role to play in that. I welcome what the Minister of State has said about the Departments being prepared to work with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and so on but we have heard that many times in the past and little has come of it. The Minister of State will know that is the case in her own region as well. We really need to make this different. We need to put an infrastructure plan in place to ensure we can create new, sustainable, long-term jobs for people in that region. The closure of this factory is a sign that we are going in the wrong direction and that we are moving backwards.

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