Tackle regional imbalance
Leading businessman Pádraig Ó Céidigh has called on the government to devise and implement a regional economic development strategy to counteract the growing divide between Dublin and the rest of the country.
He was speaking on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s drivetime programme Cormac ag a Cúig last week.
“There’s a definite two tier system within the Irish economy – Dublin, and then the rest of the country, and it’s getting worse. It was always there, to an extent, but now both those trends are working in opposite directions with Dublin improving, and the rest of the country going the opposite direction.”
“The IDA is not succeeding in spreading investment across the country, outside of the capital, and they acknowledge that themselves. Government agencies are doing what they can, and succeeding to some extent in their own particular area of focus, but they are not working together, each one is working in its own silo. There’s no joined up thinking.”
“We need a different outlook in terms of employment in this country. We need cooperation between different state agencies involved in creating employment. There’s not enough co-operation at the moment, no flexibility. We need to devise and implement one agreed strategy for the areas outside of Dublin and it’s important that the government addresses this issue straight away.”
Reacting to Ó Céidigh’s statement, Mark Fielding from ISME said: “I agree with him. The IDA's new projects have been very Dublin-centric, although I'd be loathe to set up a new agency (for outside Dublin). Maybe the agencies we have need a view which is more 'more outside'. Maybe Údarás na Gaeltachta need to be given more resources.”