Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to lend my absolute and unconditional support to that proposition. We need imagination in this country. The west and north west represent about one-sixth of the overall population. That is 700,000 people. If one looks at what Israel did to convert the desert to fertile and irrigated land that produces fruit, vegetables and crops, one sees that it did so with water. Our west and north west do not need water but they need gas. That is the energy that is needed to heat homes and run factories and distribution businesses and so on. We should use our imagination and harness the resources. They will be there and, as Deputy Naughten says, it is an investment. The marginal decision not to proceed on the basis of €1 million for one town and €1 million for another is not on. We should say that we will scrap that sum and use our imagination to produce the economic activity that will more than pay for itself and will in turn stop the chicken-and-egg negativity and produce chicken-and-egg positivity. There will be chickens and eggs rather than a paralysis. I ask the Minister to do it.

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