Government failure to develop cohesive jobs strategy for Wicklow bringing roads to Dublin to a standstill – John Brady TD
Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady strongly criticised the government’s lack of focus on job creation in Wicklow, noting that the county has suffered significant job losses in recent years. Brady highlighted that from 2021 to 2023, the number of people employed by IDA-supported companies in Wicklow fell from 2,824 to 2,673. This decline is even starker when looking at jobs supported by Enterprise Ireland, which dropped by 14% from 4,270 in 2019 to 3,683—representing a staggering reduction of 587 jobs.
Brady said:
“It is very evident that Wicklow is not being given the priority it needs for job creation and the lack of a strategy by the government has relegated Wicklow to little more than a commuter hub for Dublin. The figures from Enterprise Ireland (EI) are quite stark, a massive drop of 587 Enterprise Ireland supported jobs in Wicklow between 2019 and 2023. IDA supported jobs have also dropped in Wicklow by 151 between 2021 and 2023.
The loss of jobs in Wicklow has not occurred in a vacuum, but rather a direct result of the government’s failure to prioritise investment and job creation in Wicklow. The simple fact of the matter is that this government is not doing enough to promote inward investment in Wicklow.
Despite the fact that there are three government TDs in the county, including the Taoiseach, and Minister for Health, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party have failed to develop have a cohesive strategy to attract jobs to Wicklow. Wicklow had zero IDA site visits in the first quarter of this year and only two last year, the same as in 2022.
Wicklow is simply not on the map for the state agencies when it comes to job creation.
Wicklow’s performance in comparison to neighbouring Kildare, illustrates a gap, which shows Kildare with more Enterprise Ireland client companies supporting nearly three times the number of jobs.
While Wicklow is part of the IDA’s Mid-East Region along with Kildare, Meath, and Louth, only accounts for 13% of the IDA-supported jobs in the region. From 2020 to 2023, Wicklow had just seven IDA site visits, in contrast to Kildare’s 25 and Louth’s 51.
The impact of these reductions goes beyond the lost jobs themselves. As more residents are forced to travel daily to Dublin, the already congested N11 and N81 have become even busier, with traffic jams lasting hours each day. This has trapped Wicklow residents in a cycle of commuting long hours, simply using the county as a place to put their heads down and sleep before enduring the daily grind of traffic once again.
The government’s neglect in upgrading the much-needed N11 and N81 roads, combined with its lack of focus on job creation in Wicklow has resulted in a situation that has left the county’s residents struggling.
Without a focused job creation strategy, Wicklow risks losing its community vitality, instead becoming a place where people spend most of their time stuck on the road rather than building a life locally.
We need a cohesive strategy that would bring together Wicklow County Council, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, and the Local Enterprise Offices to prioritise Wicklow for inward investment and create local jobs and allow Wicklow residents the opportunity to work closer to home.” Ends
For more information contact: Deputy John Brady