Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have to consider some facts. Some 2.7 million of the State's population of 4.7 million live in Leinster and the move towards the east coast has been astonishing. I drove from Wexford to Dublin this morning. The Ceann Comhairle is from a county adjacent to Dublin and my neck of the woods is also close to the capital.

A person from my locality needs to be on the motorway at 6.05 a.m. in order to get to Dublin - 60 miles away - for 7.45 a.m. That is the length of time it is taking because of the volume of traffic. We cannot keep having people driving into Dublin city because it is unable to accommodate that number of cars.

I wish to place on record the fact that, since I became Minister of State with responsibility for financial services, I have promoted rural and regional Ireland every time I meet the representatives of companies. I tell companies that there is a terrific service and product available outside Dublin. While companies have different views and criteria, they are now looking outside Dublin in a much more positive way than was the case in the past. I have used Pramerica in Letterkenny as a really good example in this regard. Letterkenny is a medium-sized town of 20,000 people but it has Pramerica, a company with a staff of 1,500, and another company, Optimus, which has a staff of 1,000. There are 2,500 employees in the financial services sector in a medium-sized town and there is the capacity and ability to continue that service. It is very important that we continue to promote rural and regional Ireland.

The construction of the M20 is crucial. We must link Limerick and Cork. This will be the first time that we link two cities for quite some time. In every other instance where such a link was being created, it involved Dublin city and some other location. This is the first time Limerick and Cork will be linked by a motorway.

It galls me somewhat when people in this House say that rural Ireland is dead. Rural Ireland is not dead. There are some areas that are experiencing depopulation and other challenges but other areas are thriving. Letterkenny is the best example. It is a thriving medium-sized rural town four hours from here. There are many Letterkennys all over the country, including Gorey, the town in which I live. Gorey is thriving. It has a massive retail centre and a population of 10,000. Rural Ireland is not dead but we must ensure that there are sufficient economic growth centres in every county or region so that the spin-off from these will help the areas that are falling backwards. Killorglin is a small town in County Kerry with a population of fewer than 5,000. A company called FEXCO, which employs 1,000 staff, is located there. That is the future. It involves attracting companies that are large enough to have a huge impact on a region and I am committed to ensuring that this happens.

The challenge for Kildare, Meath, about which Deputy Tóibín spoke, and where I live in north County Wexford is ensuring that the capital does not become all-consuming, thereby obliging the people in the areas to which I refer all have to work in Dublin. They do not have to do so. People can commute in the opposite direction rather than all driving their cars into the city.

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