Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased that Senator Quinn raised the issue of competitiveness, as I was rising to support my colleague Senator MacSharry in asking for a debate. As a result of structural and cultural reasons, the north west and the west in general have been lagging behind the rest of the country. These reasons might not be quite in keeping with what Senator Quinn is suggesting, which is a more global view of competitiveness to which I would subscribe in the national macro-economic area. However, certain issues underlie the reasons for such a high level of youth unemployment in the north west and especially in Donegal, mainly related to the focus on one or two industries. With regard to the Saehan Media disaster of last week, when it started trading in Sligo it was seen as a flagship project that employed over 350 people at a time when there were very few industrial jobs. That is an indication of how circumstances have changed. I am sure we would all agree that the loss of jobs in Ballivor is a disaster.