John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Chairman letting me ask some questions because I am not a member of the committee. I heard that the witnesses would be here. They are both very welcome. It is important that I come to see my neighbours. They are based in Ballaghaderreen, where I live, and I am very aware of the great work the WDC has done since it was founded in 1998 in probing, researching, supporting and providing seed capital.

Knock Airport was mentioned. I am very aware that the role the WDC played in Knock Airport over the years has been crucial at a time when it was more vulnerable than it is now. It needs to be supported in bringing businesses that are located in the eastern side back to the west. I have lobbied many Ministers on all sides to improve that support. I will have a question on that in a moment. It is important that no matter what Government is in office we do not fall into the trap in the west of Ireland of talking ourselves down. It happens continually and the WDC is the one State agency that helps to lift the tenor of that conversation about the west. The IDA brings investment in from outside and Enterprise Ireland gives support to companies in the west that are exporting but there is a void in the middle where help is needed. The Western Development Commission could be used as that vehicle to give that help. I have brought people to meet Mr. Brannigan over the years for help, support, advice and mentoring. I have always found the door open and the advice very constructive. Sometimes I felt the criteria the WDC was working against was limited, for example, where it could give seed capital and buy in equity. Could the WDC play a bigger role if there was more funding? Could there be more flexibility in how it could offer help? Is that a constraint at times?

The other thing that has been mentioned continually is the TEN-T issue. Students from a local school did a survey on it recently. There is a perception being created that there is buckets of money in Europe and that we rejected that money. I do not accept that argument. When TEN-T was being formulated it was more about bankruptcy of the country than TEN-T. I am a member of the transport committee. The European Commissioner for Transport appeared before the committee a few months ago. TEN-T was not to be reviewed until 2023 but, in light of Brexit, the Commissioner assured us it would be reviewed a lot sooner than that. There may be an opportunity there for Government but also for agencies such as the WDC to feed into that. The Commissioner gave us assurance that the transport situation with regard to the land bridges of Britain, depending on what happens, would be looked at again. There is a possibility Ireland will need support. It will be supported by the European Union and the western region could come in on that. If there is something to be gained from TEN-T, my reading of it was that most of the money was to be provided by the national Government and that 20% would come from elsewhere. I do not want to fight the war here but what we need to do, and what the WDC is doing, is look forward rather than look back and plan for the future. The WDC will play a really important role in the future of the west and the north west and the entire region it covers. Do the witnesses have a wish list in terms of how their jobs and their delivery to the region could be helped?