Vol. 521 No. 5
92 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the major variation in the ratio of high-skill jobs to low-skill jobs available in various parts of the State; the plans she has to address the problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17640/00]
The Government has set out, in the context of the national development plan – NDP – the range of public investments which will be made to improve prosperity and regional attractiveness across the country. The NDP will involve an investment of £40.588 billion, in 1999 prices, over the period 2000-2006. The annual investment plan is broken down by region in line with the designation of Ireland into two regions – southern and eastern – S&E – region and Border, Midland and Western – BMW – region. The breakdown of the overall plan expenditure on a regional basis clearly shows that the per capita spend in the BMW region of £14,051 is nearly 40% greater than that of the £10,157 per capita expenditure for the S&E region.
There is, therefore, a strong horizontal commitment to realising an effective regional strategy such that by 2006 the main differences between the BMW and S&E regions are minimised if not eliminated. Within the NDP, plan investments on the Employment and Human Resources Development Operational Programme – HRDOP – will amount to £9.9 billion. The HRDOP will enable investment in policies which enable people develop their skill levels so that they can realise their full potential within the ever-changing market place.
In addition, over the last year, IDA Ireland has expended considerable effort on reviewing its role on planning its future strategy to ensure that it continues to meet national needs in the year 2000 and following years. In this regard, I have ensured that the need for more balanced regional development has been brought to the core of the agency's agenda and it has now become the main focus of its activity.
The significant infrastructure, human resource, enterprise and social investments planned for the next seven years are designed to rebalance regional growth and employment.
