James Bannon (Fine Gael)

While 1,300 jobs may represent nothing but numbers to the Tánaiste to achieve her purpose, these jobs were more than empty words to County Longford. Their loss is a major blow to the economy of the county and the entire midlands. Cardinal Health was expected to become the largest employer in the area. Longford County Council was put in considerable debt since the announcement in 2000. It had to foot a huge interest bill on an overdraft to buy the land for Cardinal Health. It cost the council up to €200,000 in services etc. to keep the site on stream for the past four years. There is no need to ask the Minister of State what Cardinal Health lost over this deal, as it lost absolutely nothing. Longford County Council and the people of the county have lost out greatly by Cardinal Health's decision. Ultimately, Longford County Council and the Longford area must not be left to carry the can. The Government must pick up the tab for not honouring its commitment to County Longford.

Hope springs eternal and this hope or perhaps desperation leads us to turn a blind eye to the obvious. We smelt a rat when Cardinal Health did not apply for planning permission in 2001 or 2002. There was no way that the original timeframe would be met. Following the subsequent deferral, we should have been told the truth. When the task force was set up we were informed at a county council meeting that its target was to create 4,000 jobs by 2005.

With less than a year to go, the number of jobs created is not a quarter of that figure. In light of this abandonment of 1,300 jobs for Longford, there is clearly something wrong with the Minister's job creation policy. Despite the recent setting up of the Abbott plant, the county has had the worst unemployment figures in the country over the years. Unemployment in Longford currently stands at twice the national average. The jobs crisis is set to spiral out of control.

I plead with the Tánaiste to meet with Longford County Council and others with an interest in the development of our county and try to deliver a substantial number of jobs, because Longford and the surrounding area has suffered a blow with the loss of Cardinal Health. Much development throughout the region was dependent on Cardinal Health and much hope was invested in it. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would convey to the Tánaiste that we are not happy with her performance or that of her Deputy in County Longford.