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

In Project Ireland 2040 and the national spatial strategy, we took the view that we needed to make sure that the major development centres were not just the five major cities. We identified Athlone, Letterkenny with Derry, Sligo and Drogheda-Dundalk as potential growth centres. It makes enormous sense that Athlone should be one of those, given its location in the middle of the country in the midlands. We have seen major investments in Athlone in recent years. It is becoming a hub for investment and industry. The pipeline is very good for Athlone and there will be more announcements coming in the next couple of months, which will be very positive.

On the hub-and-spoke model that the Deputy described, getting jobs in Longford, Mullingar and Roscommon town and so on is a little bit more complicated, but it is what we are trying to do. There are some good examples of companies that are willing to take spaces in other towns, but they will often have their own reasons around it. Certainly, the banking and finance area has huge sensitivities about data protection and do not like the idea of people working off-site. They were favourable to it in the pandemic because it was necessary but are reluctant about it now.

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