Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to give my full support for Deputy Naughten's amendment. It is well worded and its thrust is right. As Deputy Colreavy has mentioned, the north and the north west have justifiably merited the arrival of gas into the region for business, production and home consumption purposes. It makes sense that the Minister should be in a position to outline in a report before each of the Houses the plans for the allocation of the proceeds of the said disposal. He might not have destinations for the entire proceeds, but Deputy Naughten's suggestion that much of it should be ring-fenced for the north west region is imperative, and that could be expressed, with the balance to be further considered and decided on. It is an opportunity to identify and declare where certain amounts of the proceeds should go. That would be good for psychology and the uplifting of the hearts and minds of people in the region. That is important because we would see breaks in the sky in the general depression that has overcast the country for so long, and those breaks in the sky would bring encouragement and energy to people in their homes and places of work. I would commend such an approach. I give my full support to Deputy Naughten's amendment, and I hope that the Minister will make what he proposes happen.

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