Mid-west left out in the cold

THE recent comments by Denis Brosnan, chairman of the Mid-West Jobs Taskforce, concerning the lack of action by the Government on the 20 recommendations listed in the taskforce interim report published last July is a shocking indictment of the Government’s attitude to or concern for the huge challenges facing Limerick and the greater mid-west region.

The fact that not one of the 20 recommendations has been acted upon or delivered is disgraceful. When are the Fianna Fáil public representatives and ministers who have been elected to represent the interests of our city and region going take note of the serious decline in this region’s fortunes.

Unemployment in the mid-west is now 1% higher than the national figure, at nearly 14%, with a worrying percentage of males under 25 making up this figure. Shannon airport is facing into its most difficult year ever with visitor numbers down on average 10% annually for the past few years. Uncertainty regarding Aer Lingus’s transatlantic services, along with Ryanair basing only one plane at Shannon from April instead of the original four planes, will devastate tourism throughout the region. The planned regeneration of housing estates in Limerick is now stalled awaiting government confirmation and commitment of the funding.

The IDA and Enterprise Ireland have failed utterly to deliver any significant industry or jobs to Limerick and, more worryingly, they are not even engaging with relevant local agencies or urging investment in appropriate infrastructure to make it possible to attract industry to the region.

It is time the Government was shaken from its slumber. It could start by reinstating Shannon Development as the lead agency with sole responsibility for attracting foreign direct investment to our region, approve the application by Limerick City Council to extend its administrative boundary, creating a larger city capable of driving the entire region, and release Shannon airport from the shackles of the Dublin Airport Authority which is slowly and quietly strangling it to death.

Cllr Joe Leddin

City Hall

Limerick