John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not get an opportunity to interface with Mr. O'Mahony very often, so I am anxious to make my case to him. The region that is home to the Chairman and me is in a protracted recession. Members have been talking about Dublin, which is fair enough; we all have our own constituency interests. It is important to note, however, that the region I am from has an entirely different economic environment from that of Dublin. This needs to be taken into consideration by the Department not just on the basis of numbers but also in the context of the economic reality facing people in different parts of the country. The key piece of infrastructure we need to see revitalised is the airport. When the Department puts its budgets together in the coming months and decisions are made as to where capital spending should go, that must be taken into consideration.