P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

Listening to the previous speaker, one would swear everything in the country was in order. He gave a glowing example of what he is doing with the western corridor. I would describe the western corridor as the central corridor in Ireland but the west has been completely neglected and forgotten. The western corridor will not even touch County Cork, with an eighth of the total area of the Irish republic and the longest coastline of any county.

Surely the Minister in his sense and wisdom could see the western corridor, if properly planned, should go via Limerick, Tralee, Killarney, Glengarriff, Bantry, the Old Head of Kinsale and back up the east coast. I have never heard of parts of counties Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford being described as the western corridor.

I hope the Minister will bear in mind that the people at the extreme ends of County Cork must live as well. We do not have one mile of national primary route in my constituency of Cork South-West. We had to suffer our railway system being taken away by a Fianna Fáil Government in the late 1950s and 1960s. It was scrapped and sold to a country in Africa where, I have heard, the track is still running supremely. Trains are running on the track taken from west Cork and sold to a Third World country in Africa.

How long can this Government ignore the plight of the people of Cork South-West and County Cork as a whole? It is ignoring south Kerry also. I am amazed my friend, Deputy Healy-Rae, is not present to hear the Minister speaking about new drink-driving laws which are to be introduced. The Minister for Transport has left his seat but I wonder if he has consulted Deputy Healy-Rae on the issue. Judging by the newspapers, the Deputy seems to be resisting such measures, indicating they will herald the death knell of rural Ireland and the countrypub.

It seems autobahns are being created all over the country but there is not one mile of national primary route in south-west Cork. Baltimore Harbour is crying out for development, and there was a promise before the election that it would be done within six months. The election is over six months and there is no evidence that anything is being done for Baltimore yet. I hope the Minister will not forget it in his budget speech.

When my party had a say in power and former Deputy Alan Dukes was Minister for Finance in 1982, he announced funding of £1 million for the pier in Schull. Within three months I delivered the money, work started and Schull pier was extended.

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