Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join with my colleagues in encouraging people to download the Covid tracking app. It is free. We should all be doing it. I also join in the praise for Dr. Tony Holohan. He has been a fantastic leader over recent months.

I would like to talk about the shocking situation in Ballinasloe with regard to the potential job losses at the company Aptar. This could affect 100 jobs in the town of Ballinasloe. I am calling for a jobs task force to look at investment in towns with populations of fewer than 10,000. Some 100 families in this town will be impacted by the loss of these jobs. I know we will see more of this in the difficult times ahead but we are now facing the loss of 100 jobs in a town less than 10 km away from Shannonbridge, where jobs at Bord na Móna were lost only in the last month. We are seeing the significant effects of climate change, in addition to what is happening with regard to global market dynamics, impacting on towns and villages. What are we going to do to drive investment in these areas?

Ballinasloe is a fantastic and strategic location. It is on the motorway between Dublin and Galway and has fantastic access to rail infrastructure. There is a highly educated workforce in the area, which is right beside Athlone Institute of Technology and which has Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board facilities and the National University of Ireland, Galway, on its doorstep. Many other towns in Ireland can say exactly the same thing. What are we doing to drive investment in those towns? That is crucial.

Our businesses, our retailers and the families in our communities are suffering now and are going to suffer. I call for that jobs task force and for colleagues to work with me. The Tánaiste has already announced support for employees in the area, who are going through an extremely difficult time. My thoughts are with them. We will be working hard to support them in the time ahead.