Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The phrase "shovel-ready projects" is an awful expression. I do not say that because it was used by Ms Nolan. I would prefer to refer to them as projects that are ready to go. Is there a recognition of the need for projects that are ready to go? How are such projects defined? Is the relevant timeframe two or three years? I believe that in a national context throughout the EU, it should be in the region of six months. We do not have time. The time is not there. We are losing ground all the time. The EU is losing ground. The investment programme is losing ground. Unemployment remains a threat. I presume the timeframe within individual member states will be six months. I reckon that at most, nine months to a year should be a target for the EU institutions themselves. If they do not set a headline target, nothing else will happen.