Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is one thing that we have not discussed and it is a big ticket item. We might discuss it briefly. I refer to the Western Development Commission, WDC, under two headings. There is a fair bit of money under the development heading. There was a time that the WDC figured in the narrative of supporting businesses in rural Ireland etc. People ask about supports and nobody seems to know of the WDC. Has the Minister, Deputy Ring, interacted with it? I refer to making it a substantial player, now that it has cash. I refer to the WDC getting into the less developed areas, getting projects off the ground and supporting them.

On a second WDC issue, now that Deputy Seán Canney is here, I will go back to something I raised earlier. There is a commitment in the national development plan to look at the western rail corridor. In any reappraisal of the western rail corridor, will it be possible to ensure that the Minister, Deputy Ross, will be persuaded that the WDC should be part of that and right at the core of any team looking at that reappraisal? I refer to the WDC being at the monitoring committee overseeing that particular reappraisal. The WDC has done much research work on development issues, population patterns, and commuting patterns. It would have a significant contribution to make. Some of us might worry about the kind of people who might be told to do that reappraisal. I have seen it happen. I refer to a big influence by those who are giving the directions.