The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has been accused of adopting an "American-style laissez-faire" policy in relation to job losses in the midlands. The criticism came from Mr Mike Jennings, the midlands regional secretary of SIPTU, following the launch of Enterprise Ireland's regional strategy.
His comments follow a series of job loss announcements in the midlands in recent years. These include Snickers, Lowe Alpine and Daiber in Tullamore, Dawn Dairies in Moate, Atlantic Mills in Tullamore and Longford, Avon in Port arlington, Leoni in Birr and Tarkett in Mullingar.
"Ms Harney's Americanstyle laissez-faire policy of fatalistically accepting job losses, while keeping fingers crossed for job replacements, has led to the misery of redundancy for hundreds of workers in the midlands in recent months," he said.
"Nothing less than an all-out effort at job preservation, combined with a massive retraining programme, will be sufficient in the current disastrous period in the employment history of this region," Mr Jennings added.
Mr Nick Mernagh, director of Midlands Region, Enterprise Ireland, said the plan would focus on developing the core of good Irish industries in the midlands, 144 companies in all.
The strategy would also focus on innovation and new start-up companies, which for some years had been a key area in the growth of the midlands.
"We must develop and help more start-up companies and young graduates into business," he added.
He said while young people in the midlands were as bright and as go-ahead as young people elsewhere, there was only one third-level institution in the region, the excellent Athlone Institute of Technology.
"Other regions, for various historical reasons, have two or three third-level centres, so the issue there is perhaps of balance and having the facilities and infrastructure in place that encourage innovation," he said.
A "regional incubator and innovation promotion centre" was now being put in place at Athlone Institute of Technology.
Young graduates there would be encouraged to take risks with their ideas in a structure of high support and would have the best opportunity to make their ideas commercial.
Mr Mernagh said the county towns in the region had a good reputation for encouraging business over the years. He accepted that Tullamore was currently going through a bad phase of job losses but its reputation for nurturing business was very strong.
"I am confident that it will continue to attract the interest of new companies who want to start up," he said. He added that the same was true of the other county towns in the area.