Once again, I raise the issue of the lack of delivery of balanced regional development, specifically in the northern and western region. Once again, I use the statistics compiled by the European Commission and the analysis of those statistics by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, which does sterling work not just in analysing the problem but in proposing solutions.

The assembly has produced two reports this year - the first on regional GDP data and the latest using EUROSTAT statistics relating to 2021 - so we are right up to date. Unfortunately, the figures are stark and deeply disappointing. For the Border region in particular, they show a region in freefall when you look at GDP per capita figures. The Border region's GDP per capita has dropped to 52% of the EU 27 average, the lowest since records began. Think about that. Compared to all other EU regions, the Border region stands at 52% of the EU average. Its GDP has fallen off a cliff. Generally I am not given to hyperbole but this is disastrous.

If you look at the entire northern and western region, you can see that its GDP is at 83% of the EU average. It is not even making the average of all EU regions. In 2006, 17 years ago, the Border region was close to the EU average at 98% but it has been steadily declining since and has hit the new low of 52%. This is just not acceptable. In fact, it is a disgrace. It shows that balanced regional development is just a phrase that is trotted out. It is not a policy that is at the heart of Government. It is an extra tacked on when announcements are made. Unless and until balanced regional development has a Minister who is responsible for it, it is a systemic policy objective of this Government that is supported by specific commitments that are revisited and reinforced on a three-monthly basis and there is positive discrimination to address the ever-widening economic gap, we will end up with jaw-dropping figures like this.

The second report refers to the competitiveness of the region. Again, it is based on the European Commission's 2022 regional economic index. Again, we find that the northern and western region is ranked 113th out of the 234 EU regions. This is 89 places behind the eastern and midlands region. If the Taoiseach does not address this yawning economic gap, it will be poor for the entire country because strong regions contribute to strong national economic development.

I again thank Deputy Harkin for raising this important issue. I do not dispute the numbers quoted by the Deputy and I agree with her that strong regions benefit the entire country. However, as I often say and as is often said to me, GDP is not everything. GDP must come with a very big health warning. The presence of Apple alone throws the numbers for GDP in the south-west region while the presence of Microsoft alone throws the numbers dramatically for the eastern region. When I talk to people as I am sure is the case with the Deputy, they never ask me about GDP or what the GDP per capita is. They ask me about jobs and incomes. When it comes to jobs in the Border region since this Government was elected, there are 17,600 more people at work. This is significant. In the Border region, including Sligo and Leitrim, which is represented by the Deputy, and Donegal, nearly 20,000 more people are at work than was the case when this Government came into office in 2020. Since then, we have seen incomes rise.

Every Minister in the Government is responsible for regional development. Obviously the lead is taken by the Minister for Rural and Community Development but the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is also responsible for it along with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, me as Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance. We are prioritising job growth in every part of Ireland. More than half of jobs now created through IDA Ireland are outside Dublin, two thirds of jobs created by Enterprise Ireland are outside Dublin and 80% of the jobs created by local enterprise offices are outside Dublin. This is really significant because what is crucial in terms of closing the gap between better-off regions and less well-off regions is good well-paid jobs and that is our strategy.

The Taoiseach would be right if we were talking about Irish regions but I never mentioned the comparison with Irish regions. I mentioned the comparison with European regions when we speak of GDP. Yes, our GDP figures are skewed here, but not across the EU. We are 52% of the European average. I am not even talking about how far behind we are being compared to the southern, midlands and eastern regions.

The Taoiseach knows that we have a real problem. It is not just GDP. Look at the European Commission report on the competitiveness index. The reason we are so far behind is poor infrastructure provision and the fact that our innovation capabilities are not even close to where they should be. I mentioned the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. Will the Taoiseach meet with it? It has solutions and ideas that can contribute and would make a real difference. There is no point in me getting up here every couple of months, talking about what the problems are and quoting figures ad nauseam. What we need is for the Government to work with the regional assembly to find solutions.

If the assembly requests a meeting in the normal way, I will certainly give it favourable consideration but it is not my practice to agree to meetings in the Chamber. It is not fair on other people or bodies that do not have a TD to make the request for them in the Chamber.

The point I was making as is often made to me is that GDP is not everything, whether it is comparisons within Ireland or the EU. I challenge the Deputy to look at average incomes and how the north west of Ireland region compares with average incomes across Europe. I challenge her to do the same with regard to employment levels. This is a Government that is investing in rural Ireland and our regions. I will provide three small examples. One is the national broadband plan, which is a €3 billion investment connecting every home, farm and business in the country to fibre. We are probably one of the only countries in the world that is doing it.

We did it against official advice and against a lot of opposition. We did it because we believe in rural Ireland and regional Ireland. With the technical universities, including the Atlantic TU in Sligo, every region in Ireland now has a university.

The north east does not.

There are now university towns all over Ireland and that will make a big difference into the future. There is also the Department of Rural and Community Development, which I established in 2017, which was initially under Deputy Ring and is now under the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. Everyone acknowledges the amount of investment we are seeing in our towns, villages and rural counties, whether it is enterprise hubs, remote working hubs, surf schools or food hubs. There is huge investment in every county in the country.

Figures do not lie.