Seanad debates

Tuesday, 18 February 2003

Rural Development Policy: Statements.

 

With regard to industrial policy and job creation, do I have to remind the Minister that Ballinasloe in County Galway was rocked in recent days by the sensation that the last flagship in the town was to suffer the loss of 387 jobs? This affected both a rural and an urban community. If we expect rural communities will be enhanced in any way by the IDA, the one industrial body we have charged with the responsibility of bringing industry to the regions, we will be disappointed. I have worked for 25 years in Ballinasloe where not one IDA-assisted job has been created in that period. The glib response of the Tánaiste was that those affected should go to Galway or Athlone, where there are jobs. This response is totally unworthy of any Minister charged with the responsibility of creating jobs for a population that has suffered severe job losses. Task forces were created but there was no adequate response.

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