The next government must address our reliance on foreign investment

The need for small homegrown industries in this country is greater now than at any time in the past. We should aim to promote the establishment of small businesses in all towns and villages.

I have long disliked the policies that operated down the years with huge sums of money being allocated to foreigners who did not have any emotional stake in the country.

They came to reap the harvest of IDA grants but, having received the maximum amount, took the first plane back to Europe or to a low cost economy and forgot about the Irish people.