Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and offer him best wishes in his ongoing work in his Department. We are all in his corner in the sense of what he is trying to do. When we were in government the congratulatory Private Member’s Bills introduced used to crack me up. I do not blame any Senator because I know this has come from on high, from some official in the Department. The Minister probably first heard of it today too. They bore very little relationship to reality then and certainly bear very little relationship to reality now. For example, yesterday in Sligo, where I live, there was an announcement of 70 job losses in Elanco. The Minister is aware of this. It is a veterinary pharmaceutical company, which made a significant investment in the area very recently, and now there is a mixed message about its intentions. Last October, while trying to advance the case for foreign direct investment on the east coast of the United States, the Minister announced jobs in a company called JenaValve, also in Sligo. I am reliably informed that he will preside over an announcement by that company to lay off and cease operations in Sligo, in addition to the job losses yesterday.

Being from the north west most of my focus when speaking here is on the region but I would not want to jeopardise any other region. No matter who has been in government, and this is not to absolve the failures of previous Governments or to overly criticise or let the current Government away with its neglect of the region, we have never been provided with the necessary infrastructure to perform to our potential.The brilliant IDA Ireland team in that part of the country includes Mr. John Nugent, a very significant player in bringing Facebook to Ireland when he was based in the US. Others include personal friends of mine and people I grew up with and they do an excellent job with IDA Ireland. They are world leaders in their field, as the Government so often says, and they are the envy of the world in terms of delivery. Consistently, governments, including this one, have made a mockery of their efforts to bring investment to that part of the country in their absolute failure to provide infrastructure and resources to allow those regions to perform to their potential. As people approach Sligo, there are 30 white crosses on the N4, marking the 30 people killed over the years. We have presided over motorways and two plus one highways and vital connectivity to Castlebar and Westport. Everywhere is entitled to a road but while we prioritise the links between Ennis and Galway and Cork and Limerick, we have cast aside the N4. This includes other governments - I am not letting anyone away with it - but I will not allow the current Minister away with it by saying the previous Government should have done this. I know that and I fought with the previous Government on this issue but the current Government is now in command and I will fight with it. It is the responsibility of the current Government.

The sum of the political parts of the Government in that part of the country do not have a significant say to get it over the line. As a lowly Senator, I know my place and I know I am not listened to by the Department. The Minister's special adviser is from Sligo and can vouch for everything I am saying. He and his family are familiar with what I am saying and will verify its validity. Some 350,000 people are unemployed and they do not give a damn about the spin announced in the spring economic statement. It means nothing to them and nothing to the 70 people in Elanco or the 15 to 20 people in the jobs announced from San Francisco last October in JenaValve, which is now pulling out of Sligo.

Some 43,000 people have jobs who did not have jobs last year. We are delighted with this, and well done to the Government, but governments do not create jobs, rather they create the atmosphere that creates jobs. If we do not have the infrastructure, we cannot do it. From speaking to IDA Ireland officials, it is not just a case of grant indication. Only 19% of IDA Ireland's budget is spent in the north-west region. That is not enough and grant indication is probably the last thing on the list. We have people skills and Collins McNicholas, a recruitment company that specialises in that part of the country, does an excellent job. Abbott and AbbVie Ireland can testify to how well and how easily professionals can be brought to work in any field.

The major aspect is access and when people are explaining, they are losing. As they set off from IDA Ireland headquarters in Dublin to bring people to Carrick-on-Shannon, Sligo, Donegal town, Ballyshannon, Bundoran or other areas in that part of the country, they must explain that when they come off the superhighway that goes all the way to Longford, there will be a problem for 60 miles because no Government gives a toss about people in the north west. No Government is able to think strategically and, instead of thinking of the region as the proverbial pain in the butt, take strategic positions and provide the region with resources to perform to its potential. That is all we want in the north west. Whether it is the Minister, his predecessor or whoever comes after him, we want to be provided with the resources for the infrastructure to perform to our potential. Then we will have an easier job attracting more like Elanco and JenaValve, which has unfortunately shed 100 highly paid jobs in the region.