Big win for Athy as inclusion on new Regional Aid Map makes funding available to promote investment- Heydon

Fine Gael TD for Kildare South, Martin Heydon, today (Friday) welcomed the publication of the Regional Aid Map by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD. This map details areas of the country in which the State can provide investment aid to businesses in order to support new investment and employment, under EU rules.

“Today’s announcement of changes to the Regional Aid Map is good news for Athy. Regional job growth is a central element of this government’s Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) and making funding available to areas like Athy is important in achieving this growth. Athy has suffered badly during the financial crisis; the results of emigration and job losses were clearly evident and needed to be tackled.

“Minister Bruton and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, engaged intensively with the European Commission to deliver changes which are reflected in the Map published today. Under the new map 51.28% of Ireland’s population will be eligible for State Aid, this represents a substantial increase from the 25% originally proposed by the Commission.

“Athy has a lot of offer to multinationals looking for a location in Ireland or indeed to home-grown businesses in need of investment. 60,000 new jobs were created last year, unemployment figures are down nationally and in the Athy area, but investment in the area is required. More jobs, more investment and more growth are necessary to aid the recovery of the area. Today’s publication of the new Regional Aid Map represents a step in the right direction and opens up new opportunities for the people of Athy.”