Mr. Ian Brannigan:

We do not engage in lobbying. We are an independent State agency and we have to work within that remit. We have certainly informed in terms of what infrastructure we believe is needed. The Senator asked what infrastructure is required. Based on engagement with stakeholders, we are clear about what infrastructure is required in the region. We have to put that through the proper channels and push as hard as we can that way.

The Senator referred to the Atlantic economic corridor, AEC, and the number of meetings we have had with the AEC task force. As I do not have exact details, I may have to revert to her on the matter. Meetings take place regularly. One was held last week and there will be another next week. The WDC was represented on three sub-committees and is now represented on two, namely, infrastructure and enterprise. We are also on the AEC steering committee, which meets regularly. A website related to the AEC will be launched this Friday. There are things happening all the time.

The Western Development Commission fully embraced the Atlantic economic corridor task force. At first, the major point was that the chambers of commerce were involved and we could speak to businesses and get a lot of input from them. The chambers represent companies with 70,000 employees. We remain totally committed to the task force and we have made submissions on its behalf. In addition, it falls under the aegis of our parent Department. We work with the group. It is too early to say whether it has made a difference as it has not been up and running for long. It is not really for me to judge whether it has made a difference. It is working in the right areas and much good has come out of it, but these things take time. I have seen tangible results in terms of submissions and projects, meetings and infrastructure around the process.

The Senator mentioned connectivity as a basic necessity. We share that view, not only as citizens, but also because we hear it from the business communities with which we engage. Connectivity is necessary. We asked Paul Cummins when we were talking to Telegael, how he could produce in the west of Ireland and compete in international markets. He said he needed connectivity to be able to do the business in real time, not send it in the post to India. That was some time ago. We need to continue to challenge that dynamic. We have coalesced hundreds of creative businesses and almost all of them, even the artisanal ones, need connectivity to sell their products. Many of them need connectivity to create their products. We work hard with the relevant Departments to do everything we can to push it forward as an economic imperative.

I noted earlier how much we work with Knock Airport to help it, even historically in respect of flights. The Senator asked about the industrial zone and whether we need a development hub. I was most aware of that some years ago when we did an analysis with Knock Airport as part of a consultation on that issue. At the time, there was a need for some of the aviation business and material science businesses. I think the Senator's question is about whether there is a strategic planning zone requirement or suchlike. I would need to study that again because I have not have discussions on this matter with Knock Airport recently. If that analysis stands up, that may be the case.

The Senator asked what would be our key infrastructure priority. While it is difficult to answer that question, roads seem to make the biggest difference to a wider economic hinterland. We believe, as per the submission to the NPF, that roads are very important. This brings me to the very interesting point the Senator made about some of the population based criteria. As I was not privy to that discussion, it is hard for me to talk about it. I am seeing and hearing that the UK realised its use of population based economic models led to a disproportionate investment in the London area which is coming back twofold. It is almost a bias that is built in - that is self-evident. The western region is a coherent region of 826,000 people. That, in the Irish context, is a large region, which deserves serious consideration. At the same time, the Senator is right that we need to reconsider population based models if they are driving decisions all in one way because under that approach we would not be able to realise the opportunities that we have in a geographic spread. There is one question left.