Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor McMahon for his statement, which is critical of the Government stance.

I want to ask a question, because I agree with some of what he says, such as "planning for future pressures, and making decisions today that can be sustained into the future will be essential to avoid painful decisions at a later time." We talk about the economy overheating and us being at full capacity. So, how do we address the situation where we almost have two countries? We have the west and the north-west, and then we have the east. We know, in terms of competitiveness, that the west and the north-west are in the bottom 7% in the EU competitive index as regards infrastructure. That has to be addressed. When we talk about our dependence on the three firms, as Professor McMahon rightly says, we have to look at how we get away from that. How do we create the opportunities for other businesses to grow and develop within the regions, and in particular to maximise the opportunity of the Atlantic economic corridor, renewable energies and all of the opportunities that presents? If we are going on what he is saying about not investing any further in infrastructure, how do we address the two different economies we have. We know the national development plan has been slowed down and reduced in terms of the amounts that are going to be spent there because of inflation and all of that. We also know about the disparity in incomes between east and west. The Professor has spoken of our reliance on three firms, or ten firms, or whatever in terms of corporation tax and our spend. How can we address that if we put everything into a National Reserve Fund?