Call to act on task force proposals for mid-west

LABOUR frontbench spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan has attacked Limerick FF ministers for failing to support the 20 recommendations contained in the Mid-West Task Force interim report, which was published last July.

The head of the task force, Denis Brosnan, hit out at the Government’s failure to act on any of its recommendations at a public briefing last Friday.

The task force, set up following the Dell pull-out with the loss of 2,000 jobs, submitted an interim report, which is to be discussed in the Dáil next Thursday.

Ms O’Sullivan claimed that there was no interest by senior government ministers to provide resources or commitment to enable any of the recommendations to be implemented.

She said: “The report recommended targeted investment to create an international cargo hub at Shannon Airport, and the development of the necessary infrastructure such as roads, water etc on a 70-acre site adjacent to Vistakon in Plassey Park would enable the IDA to try and attract in biopharmaceutical and biomedical industry to the area. This Government continues to sit on its hands while Shannon Airport declines in terms of visitor numbers and airlines using the airport.

“Over the last three years we have witnessed numbers decline by on average 10% ... Shannon Airport has always been a significant piece of infrastructure and catalyst for tourism and economic activity throughout the greater mid-west region for decades.”

Ms O’Sullivan said she was calling on all TDs in the region to lobby relevant government ministers to take action to ensure the economic survival of the mid-west region.

She said: “The silence and inaction by government ministers is absolutely shocking when there was such fanfare and publicity surrounding the establishment of the task force.

“Limerick and the mid-west region has been treated abysmally since this Government took office 12 years ago. Not one significant industry has been brought to the region and the promised €53 million tourism plan to promote the region over a period of years delivered a paltry €6m.

“The Fianna Fáil ministers and public representatives in the mid-west should hang their heads in shame at the total lack of investment or interest their government has shown to the people in this region and Minister O’Dea and Power should get off their backsides and start delivering for this city and the greater mid-west region.”

Denis Brosnan, who developed the Kerry Group into an international food giant, told last week’s briefing at the Strand Hotel in Limerick said his task force now needed a clear signal from the Government that its phase one proposals were useful and would be implemented.

Mr Brosnan added: “Or else they do not believe in anything we say and so there would be no rationale that we should continue.

“We (the task force) are not in the mood to quit, but we are saying to the Government: give us good reason to start the second phase of the report.”

The first phase of the report, he said, looked at ways of stopping the rot and the second phase, which it now wants to embark on, looks at the region’s potential to grow again with sustainable long-term employment.

The key recommendations made in the interim report which the task force wanted action on included:

* Developing Shannon Airports as an international cargo hub.

* Opening up a biochemical, biomedical industrial zone on 70 acres owned by Shannon Development near the University of Limerick.

* Movement on the regeneration of run-down parts of Limerick.

* Redrawing the city boundary and opening Limerick as a tourism gateway.

* A new impetus to IDA and Enterprise Ireland promotion of the Limerick region.