Fianna Fáil TD Eugene Murphy has hit out at the Fine Gael led government for continuing to allow a deeply unfair two tier recovery take hold across the country.
Speaking earlier Eugene Murphy said “The latest figures released by the CSO continue to show that economic growth is not being spread evenly across the country with 45% of Irish GDP being generated in the capital, and 53% in the Greater Dublin Area.”
“Recent figures from the CSO also indicate a worrying trend for rural and Border regions. While the Government continue to talk about the economic recovery it is clear that this recovery is skewed towards Dublin leaving the rural and Border regions in a very precarious position. This release points yet again to a two tier recovery. Of the eight regional authority areas, the Dublin region had the highest average disposable income per person in 2014- at €21,963 it was 14.5% higher than the State figure of €19,178.
“Dublin continues to remain the only region with higher per person disposable income than the State average during the entire 2006-2014 period while the Midland, Border and West regions continue to earn less than the State average. County Roscommon has one of the lowest rates of disposable income in the Midland, Border and West region for 2014 at just €16,281 compared to the State average of €19,178 and the Dublin average of €21,963 for the same year.
“Likewise 2014 figures also show that disposable income in Galway was €17,929, while in County Westmeath it was €17,408 and in County Leitrim it was €17,565 all of which are well below the State average of €19,178 and alarmingly way behind the Dublin average of €21,963 for the same year.
Eugene Murphy went on to say “This over concentration, and focus, on the Greater Dublin Area, is the hallmark of Fine Gael’s tenure in Government. Six years of Fine Gael led governments has created a deeply unfair two tier recovery. In 2016, the people passed judgement on Fine Gael’s slogan of ‘Keep the Recovery Going’.
“A real recovery is a recovery that reaches deep into every community that lifts all of us up and not just those communities in easy reach of the capital.
“A failure to invest sufficiently in the regions with respect to both physical and digital infrastructure has led to those regions falling behind the capital and the Greater Dublin Area.
“The current Government strategy is woefully out of date. We need a new responsive, industrial strategy that’s fit for purpose for the 21st Century that ensures that every community prospers.
“With a hard Brexit now more likely than not, with severe competitiveness deficiencies in many areas of our economy, now more than ever does the Government, and the Minister herself, need to up their game, and invest in Ireland’s economic future, and not just that of Dublin,” concluded Murphy.