Laois is being treated in a discriminatory fashion and is consistently bottom of the list when it comes to Government funding and investment, claims Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley.
“Laois is the permanent poor relation when it comes to funding and investment across many areas,” he said.
He cited the example of Laois Youth Services who received one of the lowest allocations of funding in the entire country in 2017.
A total of €57.4 million was provided nationally to support the provision of youth services this year and out of this Laois received just €86,803 under the Special Projects for Youth Scheme.
“This represents a paltry 0.15% of total funds allocated and once again Laois was treated shabbily.
“We also know that Laois has emerged as the least funded county for tourism capital grants from Fáilte Ireland, getting just €93,750, or less than 1%, from a €125 million fund between 2007 and 2014.
Crumbs
“Laois is getting crumbs from the table and this grant would have a negligible impact in promoting the county to attract visitors,” Deputy Stanley said.
“The abysmal record of the IDA in Laois has been well documented and this shows no signs of improving,” he said.
Figures released this week show that the IDA paid almost €93 million in grant aid last year to support employment from foreign direct investment enterprise.
“However, Laois fared very poorly and was practically ignored with a tiny grant of just €5,000, the lowest amount of all counties which received grant aid in 2016,” he said.
“The latest example to come to my attention of Laois being short changed is in the volunteering sector.
“While most other counties have appropriately funded volunteer centres, with average annual budgets €113,000 and with some receiving over €250,000, Laois Partnership Company receives just €11,000 to deliver a basic Volunteer Information Service.
“They cannot continue to deliver a worthwhile service with this level of funding,” Deputy Stanley said.
Laois has a rapidly growing youth population with 24.6% under the age of 14, the highest in the state, he stressed.
Population
“The county also had the fastest population growth in the country of 26.3% between 2006 and 2016 yet the participation rate for school leavers in Laois for access to 3rd level was 41% in 2014, again the lowest in the country,” he said.
“This needs to change and the Government and its agencies cannot continue to treat Laois in a discriminatory fashion.
“The figures speak for themselves and the people of Laois are entitled to ask why this is happening on a consistent basis,” Deputy Stanley said.
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