Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want first to commend the success of the Government and of Fine Gael's policy in the unprecedented job opportunities which mean that unemployment is currently at an all-time low. Figures have also shown over 1,800 IDA Ireland-backed companies directly employ over 300,000 people in Ireland for the second consecutive year. This also demonstrates a continued strong regional performance for the past year with 132 investments outside Dublin representing 54% of the total investment.

While this good work must be acknowledged, I must raise a matter of concern which is the lack of progress on a new Mayo IDA Ireland facility in Castlebar. Plans were announced in 2021 for the delivery of 19 advance building solutions as part of the key strategic objective under the IDA Ireland's Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth strategy up to 2024. Of these, eight had been completed by the end of 2023 and another eight were at construction stage. Unfortunately, Castlebar lags in the bottom three of the 19 selected sites across the country. The building in Castlebar, along with the planned buildings in Galway and Longford, remains in the site selection process. A planning application has not been submitted. I urge the Taoiseach to give this project his full attention. The people in Mayo have witnessed success at a previous IDA Ireland facility, namely, Meissner Filtration Products. I ask that the process of site selection be expedited.

See this speech in context