Cllr Liam Doherty has called on Donegal County Council to urgently take action to incentivise job growth
The Sinn Fein councillor said that an increase in investment is necessary for the county to tackle unemployment.
Recent figures from Census 2016 show that Donegal has an unemployment rate of 18%, 5% above the national average.
“We are losing a full generation of young people and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better,” Cllr Doherty said.
“These young people can see for themselves there is nothing for them to come back to. A lot of them have set up homes in Australia, England and America and feel they have no other choice.”
Cllr Doherty said current training schemes in the county are not giving young people the required skills for future employment.
“I don’t feel they are getting the right opportunities here. They are out sweeping streets and not getting the right training if someone did set up a big business here in Donegal, such as IT, where there are going to be jobs.”
Cllr Doherty’s motion, raised at yesterday’s Donegal County Council meeting, was seconded by Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher.
“We have to be forceful about getting investment in the county,” she said.
“Young people are all over the world building roads and tunnels and there is nowhere as much as Donegal that needs the infrastructure as much. If that investment came it would create the jobs and the opportunities as well,” she said.
Director of Service Liam Ward said the motion will be forwarded to relevant Government departments.
“The motion is aimed at creating an environment in the county that hopefully, with appropriate investment, opportunities will come,” he said.
In a written reply, the Council said it will continue to work under its Economic Development and Enterprise Division to maximise job creation opportunities and will continue its engagement with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.
The Local Economic Development Committee is tasked with implementing the many economic development objectives within the Local Economic & Community Plan for Donegal.