MacManus & O’Hara Criticise Omission Of Large Parts of Galway From EU Regional Aid Map

Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus MEP and Galway East Representative Louis O’Hara have criticised the omission of Gort, Loughrea and Galway City West LEAs from the new EU Regional Aid Map for Ireland. Regional Aid allows each Member State to provide enhanced rates of State Aid and invest in businesses in the least economically developed areas of the country without breaching EU State Aid rules.

MEP MacManus said:

“The new EU Regional Aid map for Ireland has recently been published and while it is welcome that the majority of the Northern and Western region covering Connacht, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan has been included on the map, Galway is the only county in the region where certain Local Electoral Areas have been excluded, namely Gort, Loughrea and Galway City West LEAs.”

“Regional Aid allows each Member State to provide enhanced rates of State Aid and invest in businesses in the least economically developed areas of the country without breaching EU State aid rules. This incentivises SMEs and large enterprises to invest for growth and expansion and increases the attractiveness of these areas for investment.”

“Given that Galway is a part of the Northern and Western region, which has recently been downgraded by the EU to being a region ‘in transition’, it is extremely concerning that large parts of Galway have been excluded from the new map. It is particularly surprising given that large parts of Leinster and Munster, which belong to regions classified as ‘more developed’, have been included.”

Galway East Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara said:

“Regional Aid is vital for addressing regional imbalance but these parts of Galway will not feel the benefits of this. It is particularly surprising that the Gort and Loughrea LEAs, which cover a large part of South and East Galway, have been considered too economically developed to qualify.”

“The South and East of County Galway is a rural, underdeveloped area, lacking basic services and crying out for investment and jobs. The region is certainly not significantly better off than any other part of Galway or Connacht and it makes little sense that they have been singled out and omitted. I am extremely concerned that businesses will suffer and the economic development of these areas will be hampered significantly as a result.”

“This needs to be reviewed and there needs to be clarity provided by the Government on the criteria used to arrive at this decision.” ENDS

Note to Editor: The new Regional Aid map is available at the following link: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Regional-Aid-Map-for-Ireland.pdf