Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----as to whether he believes the south east should be left out as we focus on development in other regions such as the mid-west, the south and the west, which he mentioned. Two things are in development that I believe will have a big impact on rebalancing our country and ensuring there are alternative poles of development to Dublin. One of those is Ireland 2040, the spatial plan that is now advanced and being developed by the Minister, Deputy Murphy. The other is the new capital plan. Key to ensuring that all regions in all parts of the country have the opportunity to benefit from prosperity is to make sure that they have the infrastructure they need. I expect that to include extending and improving the road network in various parts of the country, such as between Cork and Limerick and into the north west, and continuing to invest in broadband. However, I believe there are limitations to how far Government policy can take us when it comes to these issues. Certainly, what we can see is a recovery that is taking hold all over the country. We see that in the employment numbers going up in every region, the unemployment numbers going down in every region and income stats improving in every region. It is also very evident that we need to accelerate the recovery and economic development in parts of the country that have not benefited to the extent that others have. That makes sense for many reasons, not least the fact that Dublin is becoming congested and price inflation is very much affecting this city. Therefore, it is to this city's advantage that there would be more balanced regional development. I hope that those two plans will help to bring us some of the way there.

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