Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste knows, we discussed the idea of the hub-and-spoke strategy as set out in Project Ireland 2040 around the Cabinet table. The Government took the decision the designate Athlone as the new potential city, helping to attract IDA jobs and investment into the region and ensuring that it is now fast becoming the silicon heartlands, with a bigger percentage of the workforce employed in software development than any other town in Ireland or the UK. Towns such as Roscommon have an abundance of ready-to-move-into office space. The objective behind this strategy of creating Athlone as a hub was to use it as a hook to bring investment into the surrounding towns of Tullamore, Mullingar, Longford, Roscommon and Ballinasloe. However, that is not being achieved at the moment. What are the Department and the Tánaiste doing to achieve that?

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