Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the report recently published by the Western Development Commission, WDC. It analyses employment data in industry in the west region. As always, information from the commission, such as in this document, gives an independent perspective on how we are faring in job creation. We are all anxious to pursue that. The report contains much positive and revealing information. The west region is home to almost 46% of medical technology jobs in Ireland, while 53% of people working in the west region work in medical technology, chemicals and the agrifood industry.That is quite substantial. When we think of the west region, Galway stands out strongly as a major attraction for FDI but when one drills down on the figures, Mayo, which is a rural county, leads the way in medical-technology jobs and the percentage of people employed in industry there is higher than the national average. Equally, Sligo features and, therefore, there are many positives.

It is important that we analyse this data in light of the recent launch of the regional enterprise plan, which will bring us to 2020, and the need to identify how we will create more investment in jobs in the west region. One of the challenges identified by the chair, Mr. Gerard Kilcommins, at the launch was that we need to achieve more of a regional spread. We want FDI and industry. One of the key messages from a meeting I had with IDA Ireland on Monday last is that something we definitely offer in the west region is quality of life and a cheaper cost of living, which has to be attractive for young people who want to work and raise their families in the region. There is a job of work that needs to be done, not only for the west region but for all the regions where we are trying to shunt out growth from cities such as Galway, Limerick and Dublin, which we all know are under severe pressure in terms of infrastructure, schools, homes, etc., because of investment in their areas. We need to have a debate on how we take it to the next level. I welcome the job creation and that our unemployment rate is at an all-time low but we need to devise a tailor-made plan for specific regions as to how we get investment, which is choking the cities, out into rural areas. I ask for such a debate and that the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, would come to the House so that we can all speak from our experiences in the different regions and make a difference in delivering jobs to these areas and keeping our young people in them.