Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus a oifigigh. Cuirim fáilte freisin roimh an gcinneadh a rinne an Rialtas agus an Roinn ó thaobh na pleananna réigiúnacha a ullmhú. Beidh siad i nGaillimh ar 23 Márta chun casadh le lucht ghnó an réigiúin agus le grúpaí agus eagrachtaí príobhóideacha agus poiblí chun láidreachtaí agus laigí an réigiúin a phlé. B'fhéidir nach bhfuil a fhios ag an Aire go bhfuil díospóireacht láidir ann sa dáilcheantar ó thaobh an bhóthair nua, cúlbhóthar do Ghaillimh. Tá sé rogha leagtha amach. Tá an cheist sin fíorthábhachtach ó thaobh infheistíocht d'iarthar na Gaillimhe de, don cheantar atá laistiar de Abhainn na Coiribe agus do Chonamara. Tá 70,000 duine ina gcónaí sa cheantar sin.

I very much welcome the regional jobs plan. Everybody has talked about the recent development by Apple, but we must also examine the role of the county council through the county development plan. My colleague from Athenry, Councillor Peter Feeney, very much led the concept of the Athenry-Oranmore economic corridor which he pushed as part of the county development plan. It is a region that is well served by motorway infrastructure, including the M6 to Dublin and the planned Cork to Tuam motorway which is under construction and will be very important in terms of job creation and future investment. The area is also well served by a 220 kV power line. It should be acknowledged that the county council was to the fore in pushing the concept of the strategic corridor. Not everything comes from the Government and the local authorities have a very important role to play.

Broadband has been mentioned and is part of the plan to be put out to tender. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, has laid out the plan which must be pushed to ensure it will happen. We have had so many launches of broadband strategies in recent years by successive Governments that there is an element of disbelief that this will happen. The previous national broadband plan did not work. While it looked good on paper and we debated it at county council level, it did not deliver proper broadband infrastructure to the most rural regions. The new plan must deliver; it must be rolled out, must be real and ensure rural areas receive a proper service. The Government must obtain permission from the Commission regarding EU state aid rules and the plan needs to be pushed to ensure it will happen quickly.

Does the Minister envisage any role for credit unions or will the strategic bank be sufficient in providing funding for SMEs? This issue has been debated here previously. Will he consider extra competition from the credit unions? There was a pilot project in Kilkenny. We have moved from over-reliance on the construction sector to a situation where we need to encourage house building. We have a very comprehensive Government plan on social housing and acknowledge the creation of more than 7,000 construction sector jobs in 2014 and the plans the Minister is preparing on the reduction of the social and affordable housing requirement to 10%, with the stipulation that the houses will actually have to be provided and that there will be no cash buy-out in lieu of responsibilities. Given that lending to developers is not an easy or popular concept, how will they obtain finance? Not everybody can decide in the morning to become a developer. Not everybody has the wherewithal, capability, knowledge and confidence to apply for planning permission and build 30 to 100 houses. Previously, developers would have funded new developments from the proceeds of the sale of existing developments and by borrowing. Does the Minister envisage any issue regarding having enough builders interested in building and being able to secure finance to fund projects?

I have consulted senior people in Galway regarding software engineers and there seems to be a worldwide shortage and an inability on the part of universities to provide places and produce graduates. Perhaps the standard of mathematics is too high. This issue must be examined. People may need to be directed, pushed, advised or incentivised to move into the area.

I look forward to the regional plans. An area like mine obviously has both strengths and weaknesses. The Government has targeted tourism in Connemara through the Wild Atlantic Way and the greenways, and the cuts to the travel tax and VAT have incentivised tourism development more widely. In Galway city and its outskirts, we have been fortunate to attract foreign direct investment which has been hugely beneficial this year and in previous years. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA have helped Galway to attract investment but it is also clearly a popular destination because it has the infrastructure and critical mass of population. We have also seen the beneficial impact of clustering on the region. I commend the Minister, his Department and the relevant statutory bodies for their work in this regard.