Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for providing a response on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar. It is clear that there is significant activity and I am familiar with much of it. We are in a situation where over 50% of the population are in the Leinster region and to prevent further decline in the population outside that region, we need to ensure the western region will continue to receive investment. The investment outlined will provide for the provision of sustainable jobs in the region.

I am disappointed to hear that the petitions committee of the European Parliament wrote to the Government - the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in particular - asking why available EU funding for projects such as those comprising the western arc was not being drawn down. Everyone knows and appreciates the constraints on State expenditure and we remain in a vulnerable position in that regard. However, we must appreciate that investment of the type sought will produce multiple times the dividend produced by the initial State contribution. The letter from the petitions committee states that it regrets that the west and north-west region appear not to have benefited from ERDF funding and that no ex-ante public consultation was carried out.

This relates to funding as far back as 2007; therefore, the lack of investment does not just cover the period of office of the current Government. The petitions committee was referring to a lack of investment over a long period, particularly in transport. As the Minister of State is aware, the European Union has a transport infrastructural programme, the TEN-T programme, from which €26 billion is available from now for the next few years across Europe for regional infrastructural projects. I seek a response from the Government as to why the western region has not been included in a TEN-T programme funding proposal. I ask the Minister of State to liaise with the Minister on this issue so as to advance the concept and procure infrastructure under the TEN-T programme.

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