Jobs announcement welcome but more needs to be done – Healy
The announcement of 200 jobs for Clonmel is welcome but more needs to be done and done urgently said Deputy Seamus Healy in a statement.
Tipperary has not been getting its fair share of job creation.
The County has unemployment levels of 18%, twice the national average, with 14,400 people signing on. Towns across the County are blighted by unemployment with over 25% unemployment in the towns of Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary, Thurles, Roscrea and Nenagh.
This announcement comes in the wake of a litany of job losses, 200 at Intellicom, 50 at Grants and more at C & C, Gleeson’s, Abbott and Boston Scientific.
The County also lost a net 321 IDA jobs in the 2 years to 31/12/2014.
Tipperary has not been getting its fair share of job creation with 90% of job announcements going to the east coast and the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway.
The Government’s regional jobs strategy announced yesterday adds insult to injury. It prioritises investment in named towns Sligo, Tralee, Castlebar, Galway, Dundalk, Limerick, Athlone, Carlow and Waterford.
There is not a single Tipperary Town on the list.
In the South East the strategy prioritises Waterford and Carlow for investment for building advance manufacturing and office facilities
This doubly disadvantages all Tipperary Towns and must be changed.
Tipperary’s Ministers Alan Kelly and Tom Hayes need to step up to the mark and demand fair play and a fair share of job creation for County Tipperary Towns.
