Fresh appeal issued over Castlebar job creation

CASTLEBAR Chamber has appealed to local TDs to ensure that creating and maintaining jobs is kept on the political agenda during government negotiations.

Wilson Bird, president, stated: “We are calling on our local public representatives to ensure that job creation remains a political priority.

“As government formation negotiations continue it is crucial that our TDs for Castlebar push to keep jobs at the top of the agenda.

“To achieve this, there must be support for policies that encourage enterprise and entrepreneurship which in turn creates jobs locally.

“Our members believe that it is imperative that economic recovery and job creation remain at the forefront of the next government’s priorities and are reflected in policy.

“There are at present a number of challenges which pose serious risks to our recovery and which require immediate focus and investment.

“These issues include increasingly high business costs, skills mismatches in the economy which threaten to halt future employment growth, and insufficient infrastructure investment constraining our future growth.

“We welcome the continued reduction in the national unemployment figures, currently down to 8.6% for the first time since 2008. But we are also urging Castlebar TDs to ensure that policies that can further reduce unemployment are maintained and prioritised by the next government.”