The Upper Shannon region is losing investment worth at least £30 million, according to the chief executive of the Western Development Commission, Mr Liam Scollan. This, he says, is because of a delay in finalising a rural renewal tax incentive scheme promised by the Government at the end of 1997.
The scheme, which covers all of Leitrim and Longford and parts of Sligo, Roscommon and Cavan, is still awaiting final approval from the European Commission. Although approved by the Government in December 1997, it was submitted to Brussels only nine months later. The Commission then sought further clarification.
While the Government has now responded, a final go-ahead for the scheme is not expected until the end of February.
This delay has resulted in uncertainty among investors and a state of "paralysis", Mr Scollan said. "What the delay is doing is damaging credibility. Investors basically feel they are damned if they do, and damned if they don't."
The Western Development Commission (WDC) had received more than 300 inquiries in the past year, Mr Scollan said, and he was aware of people willing to invest a total of at least £30 million, with the potential to create more than 3,000 jobs in the manufacturing and services sector. This was just a fraction of the potential investment involved, he added.
"These investors are becoming increasingly frustrated and incredulous at the slow pace of development one year after the passage of the legislation."
All tax legislation must be submitted to Brussels for final approval, but there is concern at the nine-month delay before the scheme was submitted to the European Commission.
Mr Scollan said there was a need for the creation of a locally based, accountable body to drive the initiative. Local authorities, in partnership with the community and voluntary sector, could form the basis of this body.
The Western Development Commission recently met the Heritage Council to discuss the tax incentive scheme. Mr Scollan said he shared the concerns raised at that meeting.
He accepted that offering tax incentives in an environmentally sensitive area could pose dangers, and said this was why there was a need for an accountable body on the ground to decide where the tax incentives should go.
If the scheme is approved it is envisaged that investors constructing a building for industrial, commercial or residential purposes could offset at least 25 per cent of capital costs against tax.
Mr Scollan is also concerned at changes in the scheme from the original proposal submitted to the Government by the WDC, in particular the exclusion of support for marine and horticultural activities.
"This scheme has not been thought through and appears to be more appropriate for Temple Bar than Carrick-on-Shannon," he said. There was an urgent need to devolve more decision-making to regional bodies, he added.
The Western Development Commission was established by the Government to spearhead development in Cos Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway, Mayo and Clare.