Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too pay tribute and thank the front-line staff, the in-house staff and those who worked in hospitals and were out clearing roads and all the volunteers as well as the Army, the Civil Defence, the Garda and council staff - everybody who was involved in the clean-up right around the country. I pay compliment to them and the many volunteers who joined them.

Yesterday was a historic day in Limerick and in the mid-west in that we started off the morning with a visit from the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, who announced 600 jobs. Initially, 60 jobs will be based in Shannon Airport and 600 jobs will be based in the mid-west. It was a very welcome, good news story. It is the biggest amount of jobs to be announced in recent years. I welcome Edwards Lifesciences to the area. It showed a video yesterday of its work. The company is involved in making valves for the heart. It is unbelievable what technology can do and how far science has come. I welcome the company to the mid-west.

Later yesterday we had the opening of the new courthouse in Limerick. I welcome the fact that the Supreme Court is sitting there for the next three days. This is the first time it has sat in Limerick. The court rarely comes out of Dublin so it is a very welcome good news story not only for Limerick but for the region.

On a side note, I was a member of the board of Innovate Limerick when I was on the council. We have bought premises where we consider there is potential for businesses to locate.Yesterday morning we started off with a visit to Troy film studios where 450 people work locally. That is certainly a very good news story in that there are people from Limerick School of Art and Design and others who are in an apprenticeship programme, so yesterday was a very positive day.