Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that update. Technimark Ireland is nearing completion of a new wing at its factory in Longford town and will shortly be adding 100 staff to its workforce. In the coming days, we are expecting Abbott Diagnostics to lodge a planning application for a major expansion at its plant in Longford town which, doubtless, will lead to additional employment there also. Throughout the period of the crash we saw the importance of FDI for provincial Ireland. The towns that prospered or survived best during that time were those that had the benefit of tourism or of FDI. The Minister of State will be very familiar with the importance of tourism in the context of Westport and many of the provincial towns in Mayo but where there was no tourism, it was those towns that had the benefit and the crutch of FDI that did best. Notwithstanding the successes to date in Longford, it is critical that the Department makes it an absolute priority to ensure that IDA Ireland delivers a new advanced building solution for Longford town without any further delay. I am conscious that there is a commitment to deliver before 2024 but we are now at the end of 2022. This is an absolute priority for Longford.

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