Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That progress has to be viewed in the context of Central Statistics Office projections that show that by 2031, which is not that long away, the population of the greater Dublin area will account for 65% of the total population of the State. This is why the regional action plans for jobs are so important and they have to be real. The allocation of a potential €7 million a year per plan over five years needs to try to resist this pressure and increase in costs that will develop in the greater Dublin area. We would abandon employment and the economy in much of the rest of the economy if we continued to pursue this path.

The urgency of APJ Regional, as it is going to be christened, is absolutely vital. I suspect the use of a tendering process means that there will be no money flowing into any of these job plans until 2016. That is very timely for Fine Gael and the other Government party. It is my feeling that this is only an election ploy designed to try to protect Government backbenchers ahead of the general election. Can the Minister of State give me an assurance that this is not the case?

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