Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed to hear the Government is not even considering redeploying jobs into rural areas. I agree with the Minister of State that decentralisation, which was first mentioned in 2003 to 2004, became a dirty word ultimately. It was a very good idea and the only thing that was wrong with it is that the three-year timeframe was too ambitious. It could not be done in three years. What happened is that when the Departments went to buy property and sites, the gun was put to their head and they were asked for ten times the price. If the plan was to be phased over a ten-year period, it would have given people a chance and senior civil servants could have had an opportunity for their children to finish school, for example. If that had been done, decentralisation would and could have worked.

There are motorways everywhere in the south of the country but there is nothing when one reaches Mullingar when travelling from Dublin. Galway is fortunate to have a motorway all the way to the city, but the same is not true when one travels to Sligo. When I spoke to the IDA, I was told that when it brings people to the north west, those who make decisions are not interested once they reach Mullingar and find there is only a single carriageway road. They are not interested in travelling to Sligo or the north west because of the lack of a proper road structure. Unfortunately, that is the reality. It is not the fault of the IDA either. The people who make decisions on location are company executives. Whatever chance one has with proper infrastructure, one has no chance without it. That is why the Government should reconsider its approach.

I spoke to a friend of mine yesterday whose son is buying a house in Dublin - two up and two down with a ground floor bathroom. The cost is €415,000. One could buy three houses for that amount of money where I live. The quality of life would be totally different. If people had an opportunity and time to make a decision and sort out their affairs, they would move because there is a good quality of life in the north west.

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