Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I am more worried by what is not in this Bill. I was very pleased that the Minister for Finance looked after a number of constituencies, his own included, on the River Shannon. I welcome this. Since I entered the Dáil, I have been anxious to see such an initiative taken as regards my own area. I am speaking in particular about Ireland West Airport at Knock. This is a wonderful catalyst for the development of the west which has come on in leaps and bounds under Mr. Liam Scollan, its CEO, and chairman, Mr. Joe Kennedy and his board. It is a wonderful success story and it is vitally important for the area that this international airport has a special provision. They are working on a 65-acre business park at present to facilitate knowledge-based industries and high-tech manufacturing in internationally traded companies. They will be marketing this programme at the end of the second quarter this year. I ask the Minister to think about this in the future because it is badly needed. There is a great need for some positive discrimination. The Minister has proven himself in this regard. I have raised this in the Dáil on several occasions, and I have been disappointed because there never has been any positive response.

This is why I was pleasantly surprised that the Minister had introduced the Shannon-based scheme, and I had hoped he would do the same for Ireland West Airport, Knock. It dealt with 35,000 passengers in December. When one considers the enormous numbers coming into Dublin Airport, it is certainly in everyone's interest to have balanced regional development. This is one way the Minister might have done this, through the Finance Bill. I am very disappointed that such provision is not made. There is a €45.9 million investment programme in Knock airport, which has started. It is looking for dedicated funding of €30 million to extend the apron and for a number of other matters that need to be dealt with. There must be some positive discrimination, however. Banks will not invest in the west as they should. They say there is an insufficient footfall there for industry as regards projects and so on. It is strongly rumoured that the agencies are telling manufacturers in the west of Ireland to go to China and elsewhere. Already IDA factories are being used as car showrooms. It was a scandal that IDA factories on which the Government had to pay rent were lying empty. Now they are being sold. Therefore, this cannot be said any more.

The alarm bells are ringing because of the overdevelopment along the east coast. If Ireland were afloat, the east coast would be well under water. It would, therefore, make great sense to get away from the ass and cart pace at which people have to move in Dublin, as compared to the opportunities on offer in the underpopulated and underdeveloped west. It would have made much sense for the Minister to have allowed this special scheme for manufacturing in the region, along the lines of that in Shannon Airport. This would be of major use because we are still trying to catch up. The Minister is well aware of the €3.75 billion underspend in the national development plan in the BMW area. That shows there is a serious problem.

Ballina is an area which does not even have an industrial park. IDA officials paid something like five visits since 2000 in the company of industrialists. However, there is no industrial park to bring them to. That fiasco is ongoing, and it must be realised that there is a great need for some type of tax incentivisation scheme for County Mayo and, above all, for Ireland West Airport, Knock. The Minister has looked after the horses as regards allowances for the equine industry, but how about the homo sapiens? They deserve some recognition too. The west is still the most economically deprived area of Ireland. I am glad to see the Minister preaching balanced regional development but I wish he would practise what he preaches. Where there is a will there is a way, as I have said to him before. However, the will at this time was for the Shannon basin. I only wish it were there for the industrial zone at Ireland West Airport.

Ballina has an unemployment rate of 11%, equivalent to twice the national average. There are more people on the live register in Ballina than in the entire county of Roscommon. We have lost a net total of 1,000 jobs net in the past nine years. All told, there is a great need for a proper road into Ballina. The N26 is an absolute disgrace. I thank the Minister for his attention and ask him to bear in mind what I have just said.

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