Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson for his courtesy and the Minister of State for coming in to take this Commencement matter. It is the first occasion I have asked him to take one since his appointment to this position. Even though I have congratulated the Minister of State personally on his appointment, I want to state publicly this morning that I am very happy that he is in this position now. I know how committed and dedicated he is to jobs, job creation and rural development, in particular.

I am speaking this morning about the IDA Ireland commitment to County Roscommon. IDA Ireland has a very good record with regard to foreign direct investment, FDI, and we must pay tribute to the work it does with regard to the amount of foreign direct investment it brings to this country. We must also acknowledge that how it does this, derives from an ability to attract and retain this investment. It is all very fine getting jobs but IDA Ireland has a very good record of not alone attracting foreign direct investment here but also of retaining it.

There is a great focus now by Government on more jobs in the regions, which is happening and which I acknowledge. I feel at times that County Roscommon needs more of a push from IDA Ireland. Today, I am basically asking for an update, if possible, on what IDA Ireland has planned for the future of the county. There has been significant investment in Monksland in south Roscommon, which is a very positive development. That was started by Roscommon County Council some 40 years ago. That has brought in a considerable amount of FDI.

As the Minister of State knows, we have a wonderful plant in Castlerea - Harmac Medical Products, which now employs more than 300 people. We have, however, a deficit in other parts of the county. In Roscommon town, for instance, if it did not have fine family businesses, we would be very short of jobs. When Albert Reynolds was Taoiseach and Minister for Industry and Commerce, we had foreign direct investment, which I believe was the last occasion we had it in Roscommon town. He worked very hard on that with our local politicians, including our Oireachtas Members and councillors.

We also need more of a focus on towns like Boyle, Strokestown and Ballaghaderreen. In some of these towns, there are units which were built by local community development companies or by individuals and these are suitable for 50, 60, or 70 jobs. This is vital for towns like that.

I will not detain the Minister of State much longer in making the point that I want to see a greater focus by IDA Ireland on County Roscommon. It is a beautiful county with tremendous facilities in respect of education and sport and, on either side of it, you have Athlone IT and IT Sligo, which are operating now under their new names. These are very important and play a crucial role because many of the people who want to invest in the country will ask about education facilities and colleges, which are vitally important. There is one of these facilities on either side of County Roscommon, which is a county with a great community spirit.

I will not make too great an issue of visits. As far as I can see, there are very few visits by IDA Ireland to County Roscommon compared to other western counties. I am not going down that road today, however, because there is no point in discussing that the whole time. I would like to know from the Minister of State what is in the pipeline for the future and what are the plans for County Roscommon with respect to IDA Ireland. I know there is a special focus on Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim, and that there are special things going on in Mayo, Sligo and Galway. Perhaps there is something in the pipeline for Roscommon also. I would very much appreciate it if the Minister of State could clarify the matter for me to see how we could move things forward.