Cabinet to hold meeting in Meath this Friday

PAUL MURPHY & GAVAN BECTON
The Government will hold a special cabinet meeting in the OPW offices in Trim this Friday.
It’s understood Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is taking his ministers away from Leinster House for the gathering with the Future Jobs Ireland project high on the agenda. 
The Cabinet includes Meath East TD and Minister for Social Protection, Regina Doherty while the county also boasts two non-cabinet Ministers of State in Damien English and Helen McEntee.

The Government’s Future Jobs Ireland project is billed a new “economic pathway for Ireland based on embracing innovation and technological change, improving productivity, increasing labour force participation, enhancing skills and developing talent and transitioning to a low carbon economy.”
In a statement to the Meath Chronicle, Minister for Social Protection and Employment Affairs Regina Doherty said: “Although there has been great improvement in employment and job creation across the country, the Government is not complacent and we are looking at how we can build on progress to date to ensure we have more jobs for Meath and the rest of the country in the years ahead. 
“Meath Co Council’s business development teams have made great strides in promoting Meath as a great place to work and live in and have consistently punched above its weight and we want to build on that work.”
It’s not clear if the Government will be discussing specific Meath matters during Friday’s meeting which comes in the same week as National Transport Authority chiefs poured cold water on any hopes of a rail line to Navan in the near future despite mounting pressure. At their monthly council meeting cllrs were told that based on current population and employment forecasts, the level of travel demand between Navan, Dunshaughlin and various stations to the city centre is “insufficient to justify the development of a high-capacity rail link at this time”. 
NTA bosses said it would be at least 2022 before the first reviews would be available to cabinet on future transport requirements.
Friday’s meeting at the landmark OPW building which was completed in 2010 will no doubt also deal with the 
fallout from the no confidence vote in Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy who, at time of going to press, seemed set to survive a motion of no confidence.