Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him and his officials for their presentation. I come from a constituency in the north west. I am concerned about the line between Galway and Dublin because the Minister of State mentioned five growth areas, none of which is north of that line. That is vitally important because there is a huge need in that part of the country. The Minister of State mentioned the involvement of communities, local authorities and others to gain support for the framework, but it is important that Sligo be included as a sixth growth area. Many colleagues from the west and the north west will agree with me. The Minister of State is correct to refer to towns and villages. There are streets in Sligo town on which nobody lives. I agree with him that we need to get people back into these communities and rural communities.

I also referred in my submission to the regional imbalance, as well as the need for investment. People need to see that we have an infrastructure that can be worked on and that that issue will be addressed. It is fine to say the five areas highlighted will be looked after, but given the level of population growth in them, we are losing people in other areas. Sligo Institute of Technology has been granted university status and we have a university hospital; therefore, we have the infrastructure needed. People from counties Donegal, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Cavan are buying into Sligo. We have one opportunity to get right the framework which will run until 2040.