Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy O'Donnell for sharing time with me. The report of the mid-west task force has major implications not only for the immediate region, but also for north Kerry, which is quite close to Limerick city. Indeed, we look more towards Limerick city than to Cork city. It was unfortunate that the terms of reference of the report did not include north Kerry from Tralee northwards.

When the task force was established by the Minister, she assembled a high-powered group which was the envy of those in many other areas. Most of those people participated in the task force on the basis that action would be taken on their recommendations. They are busy people who do not waste their time. They received such a commitment at that time. Now, they are disappointed and disillusioned. Next Friday they will have a press conference for politicians. I will not pre-empt what they will say, but I suspect they will be critical of the Government. They put their time into producing this report and they now feel their time will have been wasted unless there is some effort to implement their recommendations.

The task force report contained a good proposal for a large cargo facility at Shannon Airport. My understanding is that the group approached the Government for support for this proposal, but to date it has received no response. I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, who is a pragmatist and in whom I have great confidence, will relay to the Minister how disillusioned these people are with the way in which she has responded to the recommendations of the task force despite her previous commitment.

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