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The visit of Minister of Finance Jack Chambers to the Castlebar Chamber Office.
Minister of Finance Jack Chambers visits the Castlebar Chamber Office.
We were delighted to welcome Minister Jack Chambers to our Castlebar Chamber office and hold a private meeting with him.
The cost of doing business with the upcoming budget looming, including the increase in minimum wage, sick pay, holiday pay, power, and logistics, was discussed.
Anne Conlon, President, said, “It is a well-known fact that the planning process for starting a business or making a change is very challenging with all the red tape. With our local paper, the Connaught Telegraph front page heading on this issue this morning. I hosted the Estonia Ambassador in January with Castlebar Chamber members representing Construction, QS, and auctioneers. Estonia is the leader in wooden frame houses, with a turnover of 5 billion. During our meeting, they informed us they had the capacity to deliver housing to bridge the gap in our challenge. However, the red tape is the main issue. The West is not well served by electric vehicles, the road network between our towns and the capital and the 3 main ports are insufficient.
We are delighted with the announcement that the rail network Ballina N5 road, N17, and Longford Road must be upgraded. We need financial support for Castlebar Municipal District and Castlebar Chamber in our town’s vision and marketing strategy. Working together, we are stronger in delivering on our goals of achieving growth and prosperity for all Castlebar stakeholders. Without adequate funding avenues, we can’t move forward. A model like the ‘Town Centre First initiative’, for which we are not eligible, would help us deliver our plan. I am asking you for €60k, which would help pull the plan together and support us in providing growth for the town.
My final point is that the Minister, Mayo, is a county ready for more investment from the international market and we would like to see this progress for the IDA Advance Building. Mayo County Council has a site in Castlebar for this. I want you to remember that Castlebar is open for business when decisions are made. We have a site ready to develop. We need support in delivering this.”
Minister Chambers replied to the Chamber’s request and promised to reply to our requests.
