Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

Further to the discussion that has already ensued, I was amazed to hear people stand up in this Chamber and try to make excuses for the lack of infrastructure in this country, particularly in north-west Donegal where people who are ill must travel repeatedly by bus to Dublin for radiotherapy services, an essential third part of the treatment necessary to give them the best possible chance of cure. Last night a certain Government backbencher, Deputy Keaveney, voiced a criticism in the Dáil Chamber by stating surgeons were wrong to stop the service in protest at the terrible prognosis for people, where people are having radical mastectomies because of the reluctance to undertake these hazardous journeys.

I was also amazed to hear Deputies stand up in the Dáil and try to justify the lack of balanced regional development in this country. There was an underspend of €3.65 billion in the national development plan in the Border, midlands and west, BMW, region. There was also an underspend of €500 million on national roads in the BMW region. It is difficult to listen to Deputy Cooper-Flynn speak as a so-called Independent Deputy on this issue when there were many opportunities for her to do something about it in the past when her party was in power. Time is of the essence and we must ensure that the necessary infrastructure is put in place, otherwise we will not have the future we require in the west. Half our graduates have to go to the greater Dublin area to get their first job. The infrastructural deficit must be made up as a matter of urgency.

The Minister for Finance has made certain promises but we need to see these come good. We must have an improvement in the roads system, the development of broadband and reliable sources of power. Adequate infrastructure is necessary to give us an equal opportunity to compete, which is not the situation at present. This is urgently required. The western rail corridor must be completed also.

Knock airport celebrated its 20th anniversary recently, which is a wonderful achievement. It received no more than €5 million compared to the hundreds of millions of euro received by other international airports such as Dublin and Cork among others. There is an urgent need for the Government to continue to invest in the west. The Government has usurped the right of the people to express themselves by way of a say in planning matters. It has removed a tier from the system and abdicated responsibility to An Bord Pleanála which is an unrepresentative body with no community representation.

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