Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

The people of Waterford are being failed by this Government when it comes to jobs and investment. In the past five years, Waterford has received just a third of the number of IDA visits to Galway, Cork and Limerick. Even counties like Westmeath and Clare are getting more attention than Waterford. This is shown in the figures. Last year, Waterford gained just two new IDA-supported jobs. Over the past two decades, Cork averaged nearly 1,400 jobs created a year through the IDA, Galway 600, Limerick 300 and Waterford just 92. These figures come directly from replies to parliamentary questions I received this week. It is clear we are not seeing balanced regional development in the south east and Waterford; it is neglect. Will the Taoiseach finally admit the IDA strategy is failing in Waterford? Will he outline the steps that he, as Taoiseach and Head of Government, will take to address this imbalance?

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