 ::: New IDA Regional Manager Anne-Marie Tierney-Le Roux Deputy John Deasy has met IDA chairman Frank Ryan to discuss measures that will assist Waterford and the South East on foot of the agency’s appointment of a new Regional Manager based in the city after a 20-year absence. “It was a good meeting but it was made clear to me that in some cases companies are ignoring the Regional Aid incentives and are heading to the two largest urban areas in the country, regardless of what financial inducements are available. “A package of measures will be announced for the regions by the IDA in the next month and I discussed with Mr Ryan specific measures that I felt are necessary for Waterford,” the Fine Gael TD Deasy said. Having described the removal of the IDA’s South East regional director from Waterford in the mid-nineties as “a disaster”, Deputy Deasy’s efforts to convince government to restore a senior IDA executive to the city culminated in a frank exchange with Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton at the Oireachtas jobs committee last June. At that meeting Mr Deasy linked the clear decline in Waterford’s fortunes with the establishment of an amalgamated South region, complete with a regional director headquartered in Cork. That decision, he noted, was made on Richard Bruton’s watch, despite warnings as to what would, and did, happen; resulting in over 80% of all Foreign Direct Investment “going to three particular locations — Cork, Dublin and Galway.” He told Mr Bruton “there needs to be a restructuring with regard to the seniority of IDA staff when it comes to the southeast, and the situation that was in existence in 1996 when you were minister needs to be reinstated.” In response, the Minister agreed for the first time at that meeting to review the agency’s executive presence in Waterford — having earlier indicated that an additional 35 personnel approved for the IDA would be deployed overseas. Deputy Deasy also wrote to both Mr Bruton and the IDA to reiterate that redressing the regional investment imbalance in the southeast’s favour needed a priority, management-led approach given the unique economic difficulties here. “While we’ve seen some positive announcements and an improvement in unemployment levels over the past 18 months, the fact remains that around 2,500 IDA-supported jobs have been lost in Waterford since 2008, with only about a quarter of that number created over the same period,” he said. “While enticing FDI isn’t easy, changing the trend that’s developed at our expense required, in my view, a senior influential focus and status on the ground, and with this appointment I think we’ve now got that.” Ms Tierney-Le Roux — most recently IDA European Director and a former regional executive for Waterford — returned to the city in her new role on Monday, with the task of winning investments for this area. Mr Deasy said: “I am meeting the new manager this week and it’s critical we tie up the people working in in economic development locally with her office and start improving that relationship.” 
0 Comments
|
