Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Rowland. I have a couple of questions for Professor Lane. One thing that bothers me is whether the Central Bank is a bank for Dublin or for all the State. With regard to unemployment, reducing unemployment and so forth, I am from Mayo in the west and there are vast areas that have huge unemployment. It is up to 30% or 35%. My colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, spoke about emigration. It is still a reality for most of the people in my area who cannot get jobs. For example, there were 1,500 applications for 30 outdoor staff jobs in Mayo County Council. I am concerned that Professor Lane's opinions are feeding into the concentration of the Government's policy, which will not address what is happening in the regions. Without the regions we are not a full country. Will he speak to that in terms of how important he considers the development of the regions is in the context of what is happening at present?