The Government does not have the resources to implement all the recommendations from an interim report by a jobs task force charged with overseeing economic development in the mid west, the Tánaiste said today.
The Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan made the admission today in response to comments made by Denis Brosnan, chairman of the Mid West Regional Taskforce, who warned the next stage of his work would be a “waste of time” unless the recommendations were implemented.
Mr Brosnan, a former chief executive of Kerry Group, was appointed by the Tánaiste to head up the task force established earlier this year following the decision by Limerick’s largest employer; Dell computers, to reduce its workforce by 2,000 people.
In the interim report presented to government last June Mr Brosnan warned that unemployment could reach 55,000 in the mid west region by the end of the year.
Among the report’s recommendations was for Government to tackle business costs, accelerate the regeneration project in Limerick and improve the back to education allowance schemes.
Speaking at a conference on regional development at Thomond Park, in Limerick, the Tánaiste said a lot of the recommendations in the interim report had a national context and issues such as competitiveness were being addressed.
“It has to be said that we don’t have the financial wherewithal to implement every recommendation that is there,” she said.
“But I will, along with my colleagues, be bringing together two or three key issues and items that need to be addressed in the context of the taskforce here to see if we can find the financial where with all in next year’s budget to allow that to happen,” she added.
“To be more competitive and innovative, we need more regional actions on the ground to devise solutions to help us on the road to national recovery,” she said.
Stressing the importance of achieving balanced regional development economist Jim Power told the conference continued ongoing investment in access was critical.
“By that I mean transport infrastructure such as ports, airport rail and road is critical for the mid west economy,” said Mr Power.