John Deasy

I've let it be known within the Parliamentary Party, and publicly, that I intend to strongly oppose plans to means test many farmers out of the third-level maintenance grants scheme.

Conscious that the proposals would have a disproportionate effect in the dairying heartland that is Waterford and the South East, this could be a make or break issue for FG backbenchers.

Many feel this issue has the potential to drive a wedge between the Coalition partners. I'm not alone in contrasting the proposed change in grant rules with Labour’s protectionist approach to public sector pay. Indeed, if Ruairí Quinn spent a bit more time dealing with the unions and less time trying to tax farmers out of existence we would all be better off.

John Deasy

When the Public Accounts Committee recently called Frank Ryan, the chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, I took the opportunity to ask him about its position on university-led indigenous job creation.

I began by noting that Mr Brendan Murphy, the president of Cork Institute of Technology, said last summer that creating a vibrant technological university sector is the most important significant recommendation in the national strategy for higher education to 2030. 

Mr Murphy highlighted how higher education can make a major contribution to the development of indigenous enterprise by pointing to CIT's association with Enterprise Ireland in operating the Genesis programme, which has resulted in 200 start-up companies, over €100 million in investment and the creation of almost 2,500 jobs. 

The HEA and the Department of Education and Skills are adjudicating on applications for the creation of more technological universities, including the joint application for just such a designation by Waterford and Carlow ITs. "If that is where Mr. Ryan thinks the emphasis should be, what role does Enterprise Ireland, with the Department and the HEA, play to deliver on that?" I wondered, saying "the creation of these technological universities is important when it results in such figures."

Mr Ryan said in reply: "We have a long history of working directly with universities and the institutes of technology which we see as an engine of growth in their regions. It is not Enterprise Ireland's responsibility to direct Government policy. We are required to implement it."

John Deasy

I RAISED the increasing concentration of IDA-supported jobs in Dublin, Cork and Galway on the floor of the Dáil last Thursday afternoon.

I tabled the topic on foot of last week’s comments by IDA Ireland chief executive Barry O’Leary who maintained that, even with EU Regional Aid incentives, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to convince companies to invest outside of these three cities (see separate post).

I described the annual announcement as to where IDA-backed foreign direct investment went the previous year as entirely predictable; noting NUI Maynooth research that shows as many as 82% of overseas jobs created in the past six years have gone to the aforementioned urban centres.

Minister of State for Small Business, John Perry — standing in for Enterprise minister Richard Bruton, who was attending a special Cabinet meeting on jobs — said he appreciated my concerns.

However, his response largely focused on defending Ireland’s need for regional aid, rather than correcting what’s wrong with the skewed policies currently in place.

I stressed that the existing EU regional aid guidelines clearly aren’t working, and haven’t been for some time — wondering why the Government hadn’t sought to have them amended already.

The Department of Enterprise is preparing a submission to the European Commission on drawing up new aid guidelines for the post-2013 period. I said the obvious question for Minister Bruton is how is he going to incentivise companies to locate in the regions that need investment most?

Having come to the conclusion that very little thought is being given to the issue, I feel the IDA is quite content to announce yearly job creation totals for Ireland Incorporated and leave it at that — without tackling the massive disparity in where these jobs are based.

As an example of how lopsided this regional imbalance has become, I pointed out that the southeast — unlike the Border/Midlands/West (BMW) region — doesn’t qualify for the highest levels of investment aid. This is despite having almost 19% unemployment, according to the latest CSO figures.

I said to John Perry that the Minister and the Taoiseach need to start thinking about where IDA-sponsored jobs are being created and where they’re not being created — and called on them to redraw the regional aid map to target unemployment blackspots like Waterford.

*READ WHAT JOHN HAD TO SAY IN FULL, AND THE MINISTER'S REPLY, HERE

HEA report separate from Waterford-Carlow ITs bid

It should be made it crystal clear that proposals by the Higher Education Authority to merge third-level colleges will have no bearing whatsoever on Waterford’s application for technological university status.

The Irish Independent and Irish Times both reported on the HEA’s plans to reduce the number of third-level colleges funded by the State from 39 (in which 170,000 students are currently enrolled) to 24.

The objective is to eliminate waste, increase efficiencies, and ultimately save money – not surprising given that identical courses are being offered by colleges in close proximity to each other at present.

However, it's important to stress that this new amalgamation blueprint is entirely separate from the joint application being made by Waterford and Carlow Institutes of Technology for a technological university of the south-east.

Reacting to the press reports, the Chief Executive of the HEA, Tom Boland, assured me that the application submitted for technological university status for this region is unaffected by these proposals. (He also said later on Wednesday that there will be no institutes closed, just reconfigured.)

Waterford is regarded as one of the best ITs in the country, with massive infrastructural development having taken place at the Cork Road site, and also the West Campus at Carriganore, over the past decade. This should ensure it’s to the fore in a streamlined third-level sector.

Regional Aid map 
must be redrawn

John Deasy

The regional aid or investment aid guidelines for foreign companies investing in areas of high unemployment need to amended immediately by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.

The amounts involved should be increased and weighted more towards areas suffering the highest levels of unemployment in order to incentivise foreign investment in regions outside of Dublin, Cork and Galway.

IDA chief executive Barry O’Leary said this week that even with regional incentives, it was proving increasingly difficult to convince companies to invest outside Dublin and Cork.

Ever since Mr. O’Leary took over the IDA in 2008 there has been an increased concentration of jobs created by foreign firms in Dublin, Cork and Galway. I do not believe the IDA has any serious policy for attracting investment in the regions outside of these urban areas and the problem is getting worse not better.

Research carried out this year by professors at NUI Maynooth found that as much as 82% of jobs created here by overseas firms in the past six years have been centred around Dublin, Cork and Galway. They found that almost 80% of jobs created by new foreign firms in the last decade were located in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

These three cities also accounted for 62% of job gains in existing foreign firms and less than half of the job losses in that period. The process of concentration in these three cities has accelerated since the onset of the economic crisis in 2007.

The senior consultants at WRH involved in the negotiations with the region's other hospitals are scapegoating politicians for their lack of success in critical negotiations concerning the status of the Regional Hospital.

As the most vocal public supporter of maintaining the regional hospital's status, I believe people who work at the regional hospital need to understand the background to the current situation and begin legitimately questioning the individuals who are responsible for representing WRH. 

I have arranged meetings in the past with these senior consultants from Waterford along with the CEO and senior officials from the HSE and government TDs from the region. The performance of these senior consultants was under whelming to say the least. They are the ones who needed to make the argument based on medical best practice and they did not perform. In my opinion others from the regional hospital need to step in immediately to rescue this situation before its too late.

I would contend that the general issue of Waterford Regional Hospital and the South East hospital grouping is not as simple as it might seem. Some of the other consultants and hospitals within the South East Hospital group are leaning towards leaving the existing structure and creating partnerships with hospitals in Dublin where university hospital facilities are available. 

That is their choice if the Hospital Trust structure goes ahead. The senior consultants at WRH have lost the debate with Kilkenny and may be losing the debate with Wexford.

I and the other Waterford TDs were heavily criticised for not attending a meeting last week about the future of Waterford Regional Hospital. I've never actually experienced anything like it in my political career. I had texted, emailed and spoken to some of the senior consultants in question and informed them that I wasn't available to attend the meeting. They accepted my apologies but for some reason that information was not passed on to the meeting or on local radio the following day. 

In my opinion, politicians are being scapegoated due to the lack of success in these negotiations. I think Waterford has been outmanoeuvred in discussions and the blame for that has been shifted in our direction. 

I have a record of the emails and texts communications I had with senior consultants at Waterford Regional Hospital where I indicated formally the reason for my non-attendance at the hospital meeting last week and the efforts I was making with Government Officials. 

I will continue to do my job and I will continue to do what I can to maintain the status of Waterford Regional Hospital as the regional base, but I won’t be scapegoated because the talks being carried on with other hospitals around the South East aren't going very well.