Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I am glad that both Senators have raised the issue. The last point made was about the over-dependence on the construction industry. That is part of the structural difficulty which exists in many of the regions outside of the larger urban conurbations, where the labour force moved into the construction industry.

When the construction industry fell apart, all of a sudden there were massive rates of unemployment. The south east, in particular, has seen its unemployment rate jump from 4.9% in 2007 - which was marginally above the countrywide average of 4.6% - to 18.2%, compared with a national average of 14.3%. There is a clear acknowledgement of the difficulties facing the south east. I will be frank and say that neither of the two Senators have proffered any solutions. We must acknowledge that State agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, as well as local authorities, academic institutions and enterprise boards, will have to be part of a plan to stem that tide of unemployment and reverse the trend.

The south-east action plan contains specific actions to address the unemployment problems affecting the south east. The plan, which is geographically oriented towards that area, was launched more than two months ago, on 2 December. Its intention is to provide for regular meetings with a forum representing the agencies and local stakeholders to progress its implementation.

The structural challenges faced by the south east region have built up over many years and will not be reversed by a simple set of actions. What is required is to build a stronger local enterprise base in the region as a whole. The report identifies many actions that can help deliver on that ambition, but it will only achieve so much. The Senators will acknowledge that we cannot reverse the unemployment trend overnight. There will need to be structural changes and investments in key areas in order to stem that tide. There are challenges for all agencies to build up the region's competitive advantage and then promote it in a co-ordinated manner.

One of the key issues that no single agency or Department can hope to address is the issue of the overall coherence of the region's value proposition to investors from home or abroad. What has arisen again and again in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders and agencies in the region is the need for greater co-ordination of effort from all those with an interest in improving the enterprise potential of the region. This was brought to the fore when the agencies, local authorities, CEBs, educational institutions and other local representative groups met with the Minister on 24 November last. That meeting was the first time a group of that nature had met with a focus solely on what could be done to improve the region's fortunes, which is worth noting. We must also bear in mind that the figures quoted by Senator Cullinane are from a time when a different political entity was at the helm. In all fairness, what this Government has done is to seek to meet the challenges faced by the south east head-on, in partnership with the State agencies. I understand the Senator will want to score a point off me, as Minister of State, but he should recognise that people across party political boundaries want to work together to stem the tide of unemployment.