Phoenix: Any response to the South East Economic Monitor?

As a very nice summer drifts towards autumn, thoughts turn to back to school, Leaving Cert results, and the move to work or college. 

A lot of people believe that moving away from home to go to college is good for young adults in terms of development and life experience, even while those who live in or near cities with legacy universities attend their local college or university. 

Cost alone often makes that decision. 

Student accommodation or the lack of it is increasingly having a huge impact on college choice. 

In that context, it is still hard to believe that 64% of the South East region’s Leaving Cert cohort attends college outside the region. The cost of this in terms of parental support for a student at university, plus the longer term loss as students stay and work where they qualify, is enormous. Most particularly, it creates a brain drain from this region to other Irish regions and cities.

The annual South East Economic Monitor (SEEM) report on the comparative economic performance of the South East region says: “In 2023/24, there were 15,070 full-time higher education students from the South East (down from 15,270 in 2022/23), representing 7.3% of the national total – below the region’s 8.9% population share. 

Only 36% (5,430) studied within the region; 64% (9,640) left, creating economic leakage and higher costs for families during their studies. 

In contrast, 74.4% of students from the South West (Cork and Kerry) stayed local, with just 25.6% studying elsewhere. 

The annual cost of higher education in Dublin, including accommodation, is estimated at €16,000–€20,000.” 

Everyone who lives here must know that the campaign for a complete university in Waterford to serve the South East has been long, arduous and politically fraught. Intra-regional jealousies have played into the hands of other regions. 

It seems self-evident that a unified political lobby from the South East in the past 25 years would have secured full university status for WIT. 

Instead, the politically chosen path, linking WIT with Carlow IT and creating a new Wexford campus to form SETU, is complicated and as yet without the funding, borrowing powers or organizational structures of a complete university. 

While these necessary elements are promised, movement is glacial. SETU is what it is. We have no alternative other than to drive it forward. 

Announcements of high-profile courses in Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Waterford, plus the commencement of construction on long-awaited PPP projects, such as a new engineering building on the Cork Road campus, have raised hopes and given the government and its local representatives an out when hard SEEM questions are asked. 

For the nth time in the life of this column readers are reminded that nothing new has been built for WIT or SETU Waterford in over 20 years. The investment deficit, notwithstanding the PPP development, is massive.

This reflects a wider deficit in government capital spending across the South East. 

SEEM reports: “The Government’s Capital Tracker, updated in May 2025, lists 268 major public investment projects at county level, from pre-tender to implementation stages. The national imbalance is stark. Dublin, with 28% of the population, is in the process of receiving 56% of capital spending - even excluding Metro North - that is more than double its proportional share. This highlights the failure of repeated government commitments since 2018 to deliver balanced regional development. The South East, despite marquee projects like the North Quays, has the lowest per capita investment at €1,738 - around €7,000 below the national average - reflecting a persistent pattern of regional underinvestment.” 

Remember that, “a persistent pattern of regional underinvestment”.

The difference in capital spending is horrendous and speaks to a presumption against investment in Waterford and the South East. Independent research by the UK NGO Centre for Cities clearly states that where city centres are reportedly struggling, the reason is not cosmetic, i.e. how the place looks, but entirely due to spending power and disposable income in the local economy. 

Those who loudly complain about Waterford city might remember that, while absorbing the SEEM data, even as the political response from our government representatives has been zero. 

Everyone is delighted to see a new surgical hub at UHW and a new engineering building at SETU, but these are, at best, catch-up investments. Has the university deficit rendered us unable as a regional population to comprehend our current shortcomings?

The national picture with Foreign Direct Investment and IDA jobs is clouded by the policies of Donald Trump and the current US administration. 

Uncertainty is everywhere and no one knows how things will turn out. SEEM reflects the 2024 situation and is instructive in national policy terms. 

“The South East saw modest growth of 2%, increasing its share of IDA-supported jobs to 5.4% (up from 5.1%). In 2024, there were 15,580 IDA jobs in the region. A population-based pro-rata share (8.89%) would be 26,940, leaving a gap of 11,360 direct jobs. FDI roles are typically the highest-paying and most productive in the economy. Within the region, growth has been uneven: Carlow and Wexford remain static; Kilkenny has seen a significant uplift (likely due to Abbott); and Waterford has declined, with closures such as Cartamundi.” 

So much for balanced regional development!

However, SEEM’s total economic assessment is perhaps the most disturbing. 

“While the national economy has significantly outperformed expectations - recording GDP growth of 40.2% since 2019 and maintaining strong employment levels - the South East follows a notably different trajectory. Over the same period, the region’s GDP has grown by just 8.2%, with two of the last five years showing contraction. Despite its limitations in the Irish context, Regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains the primary benchmark of economic performance - and by that standard, the South East has seen virtually no growth since 2018. The divergence between regions is becoming more pronounced. Dublin’s economy is now over 12 times the size of the South East’s, despite having just three times the population. In 2021, the ratio was nine to one. This gap continues to widen. Although the national recovery from the pandemic has been strong, its benefits have not been evenly distributed. The South East continues to lag behind national averages across key metrics.” 

We invite Ministers Butler and Cummins to comment.