Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

During the Dáil debate, the Minister, Deputy Willie O'Dea, said that an announcement on the Lynx Cargo project was "imminent". I would like to know how the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, would define "imminent", as he appears to be suggesting that an announcement is a little further away. When Mr. Denis Brosnan gave a briefing to Members of the Oireachtas last week, I asked him to name the IDA Ireland officials with whom the task force had held meetings. He said that meetings had taken place at regional level only. The task force had not met Mr. Barry O'Leary of IDA Ireland. Will the Tánaiste arrange for Mr. O'Leary to meet Mr. Brosnan of the task force, so that Limerick and the rest of the mid-west can become a priority region for foreign direct investment? Contrary to what the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, has said, Mr. Brosnan felt it necessary to call a public meeting with Members of the Oireachtas, at which he expressed his dissatisfaction and frustration about the ignoring of the report of the task force. Does the Tánaiste agree that the report in question, which is very good, needs to be implemented in full? I suggest that an organisation like Shannon Development should be responsible for implementing the recommendations of the report and given sufficient resources to that end. It should have the power to borrow funds, for example, to develop the technology park in Plassey. It does not have that power at present. We have an opportunity to allow the region to take up the reins. It needs to be given the resources and controls to enable it to do so. I welcome the fact that the Dell fund is on stream. I am pleased that the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, came to Limerick. The most important thing is that we ensure the fund has the flexibility to get up and running. There needs to be proper consultation with the Dell workers. The key factor is that the entire process should lead to jobs.

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