Deputy Eugene Murphy raised the issue of job creation with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar under questions on promised legislation in the Dáil on Tuesday.
Speaking to the Roscommon People, Deputy Murphy said that the Taoiseach admitted during his response that some areas of rural Ireland – especially in the Roscommon/Galway area – are suffering with slower recovery rates when it comes to job creation.
“Leo Varadkar was responding to a question I posed about the need to develop more jobs for this region after thousands of new jobs were announced in the past few weeks,” said Deputy Murphy. Addressing the Taoiseach, Deputy Murphy said: “While the thousands of new jobs are welcome for Dublin, I want to know what you are going to do about bringing jobs to my county of Roscommon and the Roscommon/Galway constituency.
“I know you will quote figures to me to say the unemployment rate is down, but no new jobs are being created in towns like Roscommon, Strokestown, Boyle or Ballaghaderreen, and of course broadband is also a major issue. This is clear, unambiguous evidence that the two-tier recovery is still being experienced by regional and rural Ireland” Deputy Murphy said.
The Taoiseach pointed out that while employment is up in all counties, more needs to be done to ensure that all parts of the country “share in our prosperity”.
