John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A comment was made about the development of each of the regions and political representation. Dr. Griffin made the point and said it was down to political representation. That ignores the fact the Government controls everything. You can make all the representation you like, but if you are not sitting around the Cabinet table, you are not getting a bob if the Ministers decide you are not getting it. We should not be misled, therefore, by the sort of commentary we might hear about elected representatives. I have seen them all over the place working hard - Deputy Shanahan is a typical example - and it is pork barrel politics. That is what we have been experiencing. Until that stops, we will forever have an imbalance throughout the country.

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