Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald had to leave and she asked me to take these questions. Deputy McDonald has met many times with the various chambers around the country. Many trends arise in many places. It is the same, for instance, in the south east as in the north west. There is an absence of ensuring basic necessary infrastructure projects. Rosslare Port is one and the western rail corridor in my area is another. It has been left out. Most sensible people looking at the issue of the broader need for economic development consider that it is largely about our infrastructure and what infrastructure needs to be put in place. I refer to transport infrastructure in particular.

The issue of Brexit means that ports where we can directly export goods from our island to other European Union countries - rather than having to go through Britain - may be very important in future. Project Ireland 2040 plan has a huge absence in doing anything on that. I ask the Taoiseach to address this and to let me know exactly what the Government intends to do. I refer in particular to the western rail corridor. It runs from Sligo all the way down the west coast and goes right out to Rosslare Port. It would be a perfect access for goods and would regenerate an entire section of the country which has the most potential for economic development.

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