Fine Gael TDs from the midlands have called on the Government to give priority to infrastructural and job initiatives to redress the "growing regional imbalance" there. "Traditional industries from Longford to Laois have closed without adequate job-replacement packages," Mr Charles Flanagan said.
"These impact even more severely when set beside thousands of redundancies in the twin anchor employers of Bord na Mona and the ESB in recent years."