Galway city's population grew 450 per cent faster than the national rate in the first six years of this decade, according to a new economic development plan for the west.
The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI) West Region plan, which was presented to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in Dublin yesterday, notes that the rest of the west experienced a population growth of only 1 per cent during that period. It says improved access is the single most important factor for development of the region.
Compiled from the most recent statistics on the key economic indicators, the plan covers the counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, which the CCI-West Region represents. The organisation's main recommendations are based on "careful analysis" of these facts and figures. In identifying the access issue, the CCI West chairman, Mr Peter Shanley, said he would like to "cajole, entice and impel" the Taoiseach in relation to its significance.
The study takes gross value-added (GVA) per capita as the most useful indicator of the progression of a state's economy, and says the GVA per capita for the west (Galway, Mayo and Roscommon) was the lowest in Ireland from 1991 to 1995. The figure was reducing by an annual average of 1.4 per cent, a faster rate than any other region.
It notes that production and construction economic sectors are stronger in the west, while the service-type sectors are weaker. In relation to age profile, it notes that dependent age categories, up to 15 years and over 50, are 8 per cent higher than the national average in the west.
The study says there was a 37 per cent increase in employment between 1991 and 1998, with the electrical and optical equipment sector dominant at 29 per cent of the workforce.
Food products, beverages and tobacco constitute the second-largest industrial sector. While the average annual wage or salary per manufacturing employee in the west is 17 per cent lower than the national average, the west also seems to have more homes per capita than the national average. One of the most important sectors, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, is undergoing significant changes, with a 5 per cent growth in fisheries and a decline in both farming and forestry.
The plan identifies infrastructural priorities, including improved road, rail, air and sea access, with the development of a deep-sea port in Killala, Co Mayo, to service the oil and gas exploration sector; provision of water supply and sewage treatment to all urban centres; provision of thermal treatment and a new landfill site to serve the region by 2002, along with recycling facilities; extension of the national gas grid to all major towns; and investment in a major all-weather tourism attraction.
It recommends the development and marketing of "clusters" based on natural advantage, such as seafood and agriculture, and continued support for Irish and foreign industry through equity investment, employment and capital grants. It also supports continued investment in education, and says employment should be increased in the region to over 95 per cent.
