Government Regional Policy Fails Offaly says MEP
The publication of the CSO County Incomes and Regional GDP study confirms the failure of the current National Spatial Strategy to provide balanced regional development and raises serious issues concerning the recommendations of the Pat Spillane CEDRA report.
This was stated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin, speaking while canvassing in Co. Offaly on Friday, April 25th, when she charged successive governments of failing to tackle consistent inequalities which continued to favour the development of a small number of counties and discriminate against counties like Offaly. It was totally unacceptable that Co. Offaly, with its county income per head of €16,792 should remain fixed near the bottom of the 26 county table and with its average disposable income per head over €4,500 behind Dublin’s, she said.
Offaly was revealed in the recent Teagasc Rural Towns Index to have a major problem of towns in difficulty, she said. Banagher at 297 and Tullamore 263 out of a total of 302 towns assessed presented a most worrying scenario for the county’s towns, she said.
“Co. Offaly as a whole with an index of 251 compares most unfavourably with Co. Cork’s 105 but under current government policy continued favouritism will be shown to Cork”, Marian Harkin said.
The only way in which this total imbalance of development could be tackled was through a totally re-balanced Spatial Strategy and a commitment in the upcoming Regional Operational Programme to include measures favouring Co. Offaly, she said.
“This is a decision for the Irish government which will have at its disposal EU funding which the EU would favour being used to offset the lack of balanced regional development and assist economic and social progress in counties like Offaly”, the Independent MEP said.
The relative income positions of counties such as Offaly had not changed during the course of the present National Spatial Strategy and would not change without a significant change of policy in the years ahead, she said. “In this regard the latest income figures clearly show that government policy is failing most counties and the astounding fact that the government department responsible for devising the failed policy is to be placed in charge of the next National Spatial and Rural Development policies”, she said.
If the government was to be taken seriously in relation to balanced regional development it was essential to place responsibility with an economic Ministry instead of the consistently deficient Department of the Environment, Independent Marian Harkin concluded.
