Sligo Chamber Response to Agency Assisted Employment Figures for Sligo
The CEO of Sligo’s Chamber of Commerce has hit out at figures used by the Minister for Jobs yesterday which he says give a totally “skewed” view of the jobs situation in the north west.
The Fine Gael Minister Richard Bruton spoke on Ocean FM yesterday following the announcement by Elanco this week that it’s to close it’s site at Finisklin with the loss of a hundred jobs.
The Minister claimed a thousand extra jobs have been created in IDA and Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in the north west over the last four years.
CEO of Sligo’s Chamber of Commerce Paul Keyes says the Minister has contradicted his own figures sent in a letter to Sinn Fein TD Peadar Tobin just two weeks.
In response to a parliamentary question, the Minister gave a county by county breakdown of the jobs figures, showing a reduction of 760 jobs in IDA-supported companies in Sligo and Leitrim between 2011 and 2015.
Paul Keyes says even offset with the increase of 453 Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs in those years there is still a loss of over 300 jobs in Sligo and Leitrim.
Mr. Keyes says even taking Donegal’s figures into account there has still been a loss in those jobs right across the region and he has once again called for the Government to stop their empty promises:
http://oceanfm.ie/sligo-chamber-ceo-claims-jobs-minister-gave-misleading-employment-stats-nwt-fri-29th-jan/