Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. There is no doubt Dublin needs infrastructure but so does the rest of the country. I heard an earlier speaker say the population of Dublin is growing and this and that is happening. The reason the pressure exists is that more pressure will develop in one area when there is imbalanced regional development. I am surprised at the lack of emphasis in the motion on rural Ireland. I did not think Fianna Fáil was concentrating on one part of the country.

I remember when the M50 was built and the rest of the country got its potholes filled. An outer ring road in Galway was objected to for planning reasons. The N59 was also objected to for planning reasons. The Cork to Mallow road was not done when the country was awash with money. That has left a deficit of infrastructure around the country and that has caused major problems.

Perhaps the Minister will find a map of Ireland on Google and see that when one crosses the Shannon, there is a place called the west of Ireland. Money has not been invested in the N4 road. The same is true of the N5. We know the problems in Galway city, where the situation is worse than Dublin because of the rigmarole with regulations and rules. We have seen what has happened in Cork, Limerick and Sligo. Let us go around the country. Those places count. They matter but, unfortunately, 80% of the staff in the Department live and work around Dublin and they do not realise the rest of the country exists. If the Minister does one thing I urge him to move the Department to a rural area because where one works and where one drives from is what will change one's mind about the various problems.

In the programme for Government it is stated that the western rail corridor would be considered. Has that been done? No. There is also a reference in the programme for Government that funding would be provided for the N4, N5 and other roads. One year later no funding has been provided. The issue that was considered the most urgent was to get TEN-T funding for the west, and that was taken out in 2011 by the previous Government. I see the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, is in the Chamber. I hope he will make an input and try to deliver for rural Ireland, for example, in terms of TEN-T funding, because it is crucial for the west to make sure there is balanced regional development.

When one looks at the rate of spending in Departments, rural Ireland needs to get €2 out of every €3 but that is not happening. A person could have their thumb out all day for a bus or train but they would need binoculars to see them coming. That is the reality of what is happening rural areas. Dublin does matter but the rest of the country matters as well.

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