Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minister For Science, Technology and Commerce today (Friday 28th May, 1999) warmly welcomed the 370 new jobs announced today for Mayo.

Minister Treacy said "This is a great day for Mayo. The expansion by Baxter of their facility in Castlebar and the establishment by the Cedar Group of a new financial services call centre in Castlebar will be a significant boost for Mayo and the Western Region. These investments will offer a wide range of employment opportunities for people from school leaver level through to graduates and those experienced in areas such a finance, software, technical support and information technology."

The Minister re-affirmed the very strong commitment which this Government has to Regional Development. He said "These new jobs follow on a number of significant investments in the County over the last 2 years. There are now over 1000 new jobs in the process of being created in 8 IDA backed projects in the County. These are well distributed across Ballina, Castlebar, Claremorris and Westport. The IDA are currently at an advanced stage in negotiations for a project in Ballina which will bring further employment opportunities for the area."