MEP Maria Walsh has welcomed a group of MEPs from across Europe to Ireland for a fact-finding mission, offering a rare opportunity for local stakeholders to directly influence EU regional development policy.
MEP Walsh is involved in leading the European Parliament’s Regional Development (REGI) Committee’s mission to the Midlands-North West, which will see MEPs visit projects across Galway City and County, as well as the Midlands, between Monday February 24th and Wednesday February 26th.
MEP Maria Walsh, member of the Regional Development Committee, said:
“Having proposed the idea for this mission last year, I am delighted to welcome MEPs from Spain, Portugal and Slovakia to Ireland today. This is a rare opportunity for MEPs from across Europe to visit the most western constituency in the EU.
“I first proposed the idea for this mission because the Midlands-North West requires targeted EU support to address the income inequities that continue to persist. While Ireland ranks second in the EU in terms of GDP per capita, the GDP per capita in the Midlands was only 26% of the Irish national average in 2020.
“This inequality has serious knock-on effects; in 2019, the EU degraded the Northern and Western Region to a ‘region in transition’ because incomes in the West are lower than the EU average. It is the only region in Ireland to be classified as such, and represents the territorial inequities as well as the rural-urban divide that exist to this day.
“During this mission, MEPs will witness these challenges for themselves, but I am proud that they will also see the cutting-edge creativity and innovation the West of Ireland has to offer. We will visit and meet with leaders from the Port of Galway, the Western Rail Corridor, the Living Bog and ATU Mountbellew. During these meetings, we will be discussing EU funding, infrastructure needs, urban regeneration, rehabilitation of peatlands, the Just Transition, rural development, research and innovation.
“This mission also allows me to speak with constituents across the Midlands-North West about the work of the Regional Development Committee. It is a lesser-known but hugely impactful committee in the European Parliament. Its aim is to reduce inequalities between urban and rural areas, ensuring that regions like the Midlands, Border, and Western areas receive the EU funding we need.
“The Committee oversees the allocation of key EU funds, particularly the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund; between 2021-2027, Ireland benefits from almost a billion euro (€989m) of Cohesion Policy funding. This funding supports job creation, infrastructure development, and sustainable growth – key factors to allowing our region to thrive and reach its full potential.”
