The recently published report by IDA Ireland makes exciting reading. It shows the fourth record breaking year in succession for job creation in Ireland. Almost 15,000 new jobs were created, there was a 10 per cent growth in total employment and 243 new projects were negotiated or fully agreed. The cost per sustained job was at its lowest level ever. Over £18 million is spent every day by IDA Ireland supporting companies in the economy, which is the equivalent of over £6 billion per annum. Nationally, 1997 was an unprecedentedly successful year for IDA Ireland. Its success has been breathtaking.
However, the same report makes grim reading for those of us in the north-west, especially County Donegal. Figures indicate a serious regional imbalance in job creation. The north-west region, covering counties Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim, only got 297 jobs out of a total of 15,000 nationally. That is less than 2 per cent of the total. While every other region has increased employment in IDA Ireland supported industries between 1996 and 1997, the north-west again lost out, with a reduction in overall employment of 0.2 per cent.
The 1997 figures are not a once-off phenomenon. The north-west has consistently lagged behind the other regions each year since 1993. The region now has the highest unemployment levels in the country. Industrial jobs have been lost in towns such as Letterkenny, Ballybofey and Ballyshannon and have not been replaced. Unless the region is to go into an unemployment and economic tailspin, drastic and urgent action must be taken.
I accept that IDA Ireland cannot direct industrialists to locate in an area against their better judgment. This is where Government policy plays a crucial role. The Government can direct that preferential treatment be given to industries that locate in certain areas. At present a company establishing an industry in Dublin gets the same level of assistance as one locating in Donegal. This policy is leading to an unbalanced regional distribution of jobs to the advantage of the east coast and the detriment of the north-west and County Donegal.
More generous concessions and incentives must be offered to companies willing to locate in the north-west. Limited recognition was given to such a strategy in the Finance Act. The upper Shannon basin, comprising counties Leitrim and Longford and parts of counties Roscommon, Cavan and Sligo, has been given generous concessions that can be availed of by industrialists and other investors who locate there.
These concessions should be immediately extended to County Donegal and the advantages of the county must be more energetically promoted. For example, an excellent primary route linking Ballyshannon, Donegal, Ballybofey, Lifford and Letterkenny leads directly to one of the most efficient and economic ports at Larne. This is a tremendous advantage to any industry located in the area. The Minister of State visited Letterkenny Institute of Technology a fortnight ago. In the north-west there is a core of educated and skilled young people, products of the Letterkenny and Sligo institutes of technology. However, they leave the area to take up employment in high-tech companies in Dublin and along the east coast. They leave by the bus load on Sunday evenings and return on Fridays for the weekend. Why do we not attract a few industries to the north-west to provide employment for these young people in their own environment?
It is generally recognised that the quality of life in County Donegal and the north-west is as good as that in Dublin. Housing is cheaper and travel is easier. We cannot afford to have the lifeblood of rural areas drained away. What at present is a temporary weekly absence will become permanent.
In the coming months the Government will be faced with determining whether the west, north-west and the Border region will retain its objective one status for EU funding. The entire country will not qualify as average incomes exceed 75 per cent of the EU average. However, the west, north-west and Border counties are at 68 per cent of the EU average and meet the qualifying conditions. The IDA figures alone make an eloquent case for the region to retain this status. If the infrastructure to attract new industries and jobs is to be provided and if present employment is to be maintained it is important that the region continues to enjoy objective one status. I cannot overemphasise its importance and the region's public representatives support its retention.
IDA officials at regional level are committed to the region but the ultimate decisions are made at national and Government level. The Minister should give the IDA encouragement not to repeat the poor job creation performance of 1997.
