Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Commissioner Kallas, Ms Oen and Ms Nolan for attending. A badly drawn map of Ireland I have to hand shows Dublin, Cork, Galway and Sligo. I live in the north-west corner of Ireland in a beautiful constituency covering Sligo and Leitrim. Given its beauty, I would love to see the Commissioner visit it. A map of Ireland's infrastructure will show there is a rail line from Dublin to Belfast and from Dublin to Sligo. One will see many rail lines south of the Dublin-Sligo line. However, north of Sligo and west of the Dublin-Belfast line, there is no rail infrastructure and the roads continue to be very poor. What are the Commissioner's thoughts on the internal distribution of project funding and on infrastructural development within nations? What criteria should we be using? While many decisions are made based on population ratios, these must not comprise the only consideration.

The Commissioner referred to access and mobility, on which I agree with him completely. Access and mobility are as important - if not more important - to people in remote areas as they are to those in centres of population. Could the Commissioner speak briefly about the factors he believes member states should be taking into account regarding the internal distribution of funding for projects, including cross-border projects? Much of the road infrastructure between Galway and Belfast, including that in Sligo, is good but there are stretches of the road that are simply not fit for purpose. This does not encourage mobility and access.