Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There is now, but there was not at that time. Deputy Naughten will be glad that those regions have done better than the eastern and southern regions, according to all analyses, in terms of employment, investment and other areas. Hopefully, in the period of the next national development plan, we can maintain those improvements by giving positive incentives through grant aid and greater expenditure on infrastructure. There are difficulties, as the Deputy said, with energy but we will try to address all the infrastructural issues, including rail, road and local airports to achieve balanced regional development. Decentralisation will also improve matters in many of the regions. The Government will continue to implement these proposals even if, as I said the other day, we will be a bit slower in achieving it.

See this speech in context