Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their attendance at the committee. I will not go over areas that have been discussed already. Brexit is the key issue dominating all of our days, and sometimes our nights, and today has been a particularly incredible day and one we will study in the coming years. Ms Burke is correct in that we can only control the things that we can control. We have to look at our own preparations and how best we can, with the limited resources we have, buffer our own businesses and protect our citizens as best we can because even in the event of a deal, we will still face considerable challenges due to a change to the trading environment. While there might be some bumps for Dublin in terms of, say, financial services, for the rest of the country it will be a challenge for us. I am very glad to see Mr. Aidan Doyle here, representing the west, which is where I am from. I am in a very rural constituency in Mayo, so I am a neighbour of Mr. Doyle. There is a particular concern around the regions in the event of Brexit but even more generally, as Dublin continues to grow and struggle with the challenges of a fast-growing city, the regions are finding it difficult to compete.

I was in Sligo over the weekend, which has come on a good deal in recent years. The development around the Garavogue is very good. There is a good theatre and a lot is happening there. A good technology industry is being built up there also, which is really exciting. Chambers Ireland mentioned in its opening statement Ireland 2040. It is the hope of the entire western region that Sligo will grow and that we will all grow together as one region. I am sure the delegates from Chambers Ireland will recall the final draft of Ireland 2040 did not include Sligo. It is meant to be the final draft and there was not supposed to be a great deal of tweaking at that point. It was compiled after a long process of consultation and all Ministers having their say. I was gobsmacked when I looked at the map in the final draft and saw there was nothing in it for the north west. There was nothing in it north of a line one could draw from Galway to Dublin. We fought very hard to get a regional growth centre and it was a good win for the north west to get Sligo on that map. I hope it will pay dividends not only for Sligo but for Donegal, Mayo and Leitrim and that we might grow together.

In terms of the infrastructural demands for the north west, there are complaints in Dublin that the DART is overcrowded and the Luas is too slow but we do not really have public transport so that is our biggest complaint. We do not have motorways. We have the odd dual carriageway and even our national routes are of poor standing. From Chambers Ireland's perspective, what are the priority infrastructural developments for the north west to assist it to grow?

Chambers Ireland referred to the problems in the planning process. Could the delegates give more detail as to what those issues are? To take the example of the proposed Apple data centre in Athenry, it has thrown open some challenges. Much of that related to the court system in that the appeal process and even moving through the court system are quite slow. Are there other issues in the planning process that could be addressed in the short term to make it a bit easier to move the planning process along?

I met IBEC West yesterday in Medtronic in Galway and a large number of multinationals were represented at that meeting. The key message from all of them was they are struggling to attract and retain talent. Housing is a factor. They are finding it difficult to house people. They are also are finding it difficult to attract and retain people with engineering, science and mathematics qualifications. From Chambers Ireland's perspective what could we do in budget 2020 to address the talent issue?