Waterford needs a major industrial boost

Issued : Thursday 6 March, 2014

Commenting on the 5.5% fall in the numbers on the live register and the decrease in unemployment  of 774 in Waterford City & County during the past 12 months Cllr. Jack Walsh, The Labour Party, stated “While the drop in unemployment is to be welcomed Waterford needs a major boost if we are to make a serious impact on job creation.

A number of actions could be taken to kick-start the recover Cllr. Jack Walsh believes.

Government must increase the level of grant aid available in the South East to equal that available in the BMW Region. Discussions with the EU are being finalised at present and a new grant regime will become operational in July this year. “We must get a level playing pitch if the Government is genuinely interested in addressing the problem of unemployment in the South East” Cllr. Jack Walsh asserted.

Cllr. Walsh has campaigned for a number of years to have the grants for the South East increased. He successfully got a motion passed at the Labour Party Conference in Galway arguing that the South East has a structural unemployment level that is consistently 4% higher than the rest of the Country.

“If we succeed in increasing the level of grants then the IDA has got to up their game as far as this region is concerned” Cllr. Jack Walsh stated.

The completion of the process to establish the Technological University of the South East  is another crucial factor in starting the recovery of our regional economy. “The political commitment is there in the Programme for Government” Cllr. Jack Walsh said “it is now up to the Authorities in WIT and IT Carlow to progress the academic agenda. The process must be completed in the life-time of the present Government; otherwise the opportunity may be lost”.