URGENT INTERVENTION AND INVESTMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SOUTH-EAST REGION CALLED FOR

“The South-East Regional Authority calls on the Government to immediately make the South-East Region a priority area for employment creation and industrial investment”.
So stated Cllr. Thomas Kinsella, Cathaoirleach of the South-East Regional Authority, in reaction to recent reports published by the Central Statistics Office - County Incomes and Regional GDP 2007 and Quarterly National Household Survey for Q3/2009.

The GVA figures show that in 2007, GVA per person in the South-East was 73.4% of the State average, which is the 4th lowest of all the regions.

The unemployment figures show that for Q3/2009, the South-East has the highest unemployment rate (15.1%) of the eight Irish.

The disposable income per person in the South-East region was 4.4% below the State average in 2007 – the lowest of the five regions in the Southern and Eastern NUTS II Region.

 “The Regional Authority is extremely concerned at the poor performance of the South-East Region and believes that this can only be reversed if the Government, and in particular the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, together with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland intervene in a positive way”, added Cllr. Kinsella.

Since its establishment, the South-East Regional Authority has been to the forefront in identifying and articulating the deficiencies, development needs and investment priorities of the region. There is a widespread misconception that the South-East Region is a wealthy region and that it is performing well economically. This is clearly not the case as can be seen from the range of regional socio-economic indicators. “Recent high-profile job losses in other parts of the country, whilst very unfortunate, should not reduce the necessity for urgent action to address this region’s economic problems”, said Cllr. Kinsella.

“The Regional Authority demands that the Government honours one of the key objectives in the National Development Plan, i.e. to provide for more balanced regional development. All industrial and enterprise development agencies should be instructed to make the South-East Region their priority,” Cllr. Kinsella stated.

ENDS
4th February 2010



Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:00:54 GMT