Councillor Hugh Hastings:

It is a pleasure for me to be here today. The north west is the most peripheral area in respect of Dublin, Belfast and the mainland of the UK. One of the difficulties for us is that even though we have the will to work and are willing to work, we tend not to see the amount of infrastructure and money put into other parts of Northern Ireland in particular permeating down to us. It is not secret and it is fair to say that the north west is probably one of the most deprived areas when it comes to investment and infrastructure.

In terms of the north west as a gateway, we have had the gateway for the past seven years. It has delivered in some areas. It delivered in respect of the institute of technology in Letterkenny and the science park at Fort George and it delivered to some extent in respect of Altnagelvin. We are looking forward to the completion of the Altnagelvin radiotherapy unit. The Good Friday Agreement is only a paper exercise if we do not embrace the spirit of it. We would like to see a proper assessment of the needs of the north west. When I talk about the north west, I am talking about the North West Gateway Initiative and the north west corridor. We have concerns about the A5 to which the Irish Government has made a commitment and which we hope will go ahead. On a recent visit to Stormont, we met with Danny Kennedy, MLA, who told us that it had been delayed but not postponed. Obviously, there are things that need to be done and one must follow legal rules in respect of one's country to ensure that one get to a point of starting. Our expectation is that the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly will come up trumps and ensure that we have a road which will give us access in terms of a greater economic input to our area.

I do not want to dwell too long because I understand the members have received our submission and will have the opportunity to read through it. The most important thing for us is that the committee sees the way forward to ensuring that the north west is given the same priority as Dublin, Galway or Limerick and that the committee sees its way to investing in our area. I will give an example where there were 1,000 applicants for one job advertised. This is an area where people want to work. I told Mr. Canning last night that when one creates a void and the void is unemployment, it is a serious matter because something comes about to fill the void and so one gets anti-social behaviour or extreme activity which then demotes the area and people say they cannot go there. The main issues for us are the A5, the railway link with Belfast, the opportunity for the railway to move forward, the A6 towards Belfast and the corridor road from Letterkenny straight into the city. The road there is not bad but it needs to go on through and bring with it some industry. We came up the A5 last night and we have seen the amount of traffic on it. It is no longer fit for purpose and it is very important that we get the opportunity to complete the process that has been set in motion. From that perspective, we want the members of this committee to be our champions in terms of driving this forward and allowing us as councillors and representatives of the north west to see that our young people are involved in worthwhile activity including worthwhile economic activity, do not see themselves as extremists and do not join extreme organisations. We want the committee to be a champion for us.