Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I support Deputy Finneran on the projects in the west of Ireland. I hope he will lobby the Minister for Transport, who has let us down to date, on the N5 from Longford to Charlestown. It is the biggest disgrace in the country. It is a disgrace that when I go on that road tomorrow afternoon there is not room for two cars to pass. When travelling from the west, I do not mind the rest of the journey from Longford to Dublin. When I am returning from Dublin, if I get caught behind a lorry at Longford, it will take me two and a half hours to get to the west. It is time the necessary funding was put in place for the N5. We have talked about it for 30 years. It is the most important infrastructure project to get goods in and out of the west of Ireland. Factories in Westport, such as Allergan and Baxter Healthcare, have lobbied the Minister, complaining that goods transported from the west are damaged because of the condition of the road.

The Minister referred to the western rail corridor, which I welcome. I was disappointed that it was not continued to Claremorris. It is important to us. Other speakers referred to the Shannon stopover. What happened is a disgrace. It is a disgrace that the Government allowed the removal of infrastructure that is important to business people coming in and out of Shannon, Galway and Mayo. The service brought a critical number of people, including those in the business sector, in to the west.

I agree with Deputy Finneran that we have been let down by the IDA, which thinks that Dublin is Ireland. It forgets about rural Ireland. It forgets that people in the west of Ireland need jobs and the same commitment it shows to the east coast. I have nothing against Dublin. I love coming to Dublin but I love to get out if one can get in or out. That is the biggest problem in this city. It has great roads but people cannot drive anywhere because they are caught in traffic. God help the people who live in this city because they spend more time in cars than in homes, trying to travel one mile across the city. They spend hours trying to get home in the evening, which is wrong. That is a matter of basic planning for the Government. What it has planned in this city and the whole country has been a mess.

The past 15 years have been great for this country and at the first sign of a downturn we must borrow to meet Exchequer figures. Before the election I heard there were no worries about funding. People were told the economy was in safe hands and everything would be okay. That election did not take place 15 years ago. It took place four months ago.

I heard the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance predict growth of 5.5-7%. Now he has revised it to 3.5% and one can be assured that it will be even lower. There is a downturn but when we had it good in this country we squandered it. Previous speakers referred to squandering money on roads. We never spent more money on hospitals yet we never had a worse health service.

The biggest issue is whether we have a public service. We have never spent so much money or given so much money, through benchmarking, to the public service. If one phones the health board, the local authority or the Department of Social and Family Affairs one only gets through to Mr. and Mrs. Voicemail. The likes of Mr. and Mrs. Voicemail now dominate the public service. One cannot get a civil servant to answer in any Department even though we never spent so much money on the public service as we do now.

It is time the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance and the Government tackled the inefficient public service. I hear about it every day. People are sick and tired and would not come to us as politicians if public services worked. We must deal with health boards, county councils and Departments. We are paying them enough and it is time they served the people paying them, namely the taxpayer. They should give us commitment and do the job they are paid to do, which they are not doing.

There is a downturn but I urge the Minister for Finance not to attack people on social welfare. It is easy to give money when things are going well but this year represents a test for the Government. I want to make sure the elderly, pensioners and those on social welfare are protected in this budget. Food, fuel and costs of day-to-day living are increasing and people on low incomes are the first to be affected.

Now that the Green Party is in Government we may be faced with carbon taxes. If that happens the Minister must protect the elderly, the weak and those on low incomes to ensure they do not suffer. If he must attack one group of people he should tax those who live outside the country, who fly in for the All-Ireland and race meetings but pay very little tax because they live outside the State. These are the people we should target to ensure they pay their fair share; we should spread it around and ensure we can invest revenue in the health service and roads.

The town in which I live, Westport, is one of the fastest growing towns in the country. We depend on our tourist industry, with 12 hotels. The greatest problem is getting people in and out of Westport. When Fine Gael was in Government in 1997, a long time ago, the N5 was to be the next project to receive funding from the NRA and the Government. Ten years later it has not happened. I ask the Minister to provide funding for the N5.

A breast cancer service is currently available in Mayo General Hospital but it will be removed to a centre of excellence in Galway. A protest march is planned in Mayo for next Sunday. The people will march and tell the Government they are satisfied with the current service. There is a centre of excellence in Castlebar, with an excellent surgeon and all the backup staff required. Some 2,500 people used the service last year. Some 70 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 66 were operated on in Mayo General Hospital. The service is working and we want to maintain it. Perhaps the centres of excellence are good but I visited a man in hospital in Galway recently and one cannot park the car or get an appointment because of overcrowding. Now the HSE wants to add to that by closing down the centres in Sligo and Mayo and moving the services to Galway. That is not decentralisation but the exact opposite. We are happy with the service we have in Mayo and want to retain it. I ask the Minister to talk to his colleagues in Government and to make a political decision to ensure the service is maintained.

In the west we have been let down for many years with regard to infrastructure. We badly need roads. Take the N26, the road along which the gas will be transported from north Mayo. It is one of the worst roads in Ireland. We are extracting gas that will do the State and the community good but we do not have a proper road. It is time the funding was put in place to ensure that the road from Castlebar to Belmullet is improved.

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