Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and the committee will respond to his comments in due course. On the north-west region, I know the very welcome investment was mentioned by Senator Dolan earlier. I would like to draw the Minister's attention to the report by the Northwest Regional Assembly that showed that the funding is €141 per head for the north-west region in comparison to €197 for the other regions, and also that Europe has downgraded only that region from being a developed region to a region in transition. How far along the trajectory does the Minister feel he is in terms of this amount of funding in bringing the north-west region to the same level as the rest, because there is an inequality there currently? The only way to bring investment to the area in economic terms is if we invest in education.