Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As a member of the Regional Group, I welcome the budget announced yesterday. The phrase "a wartime budget" is apt. I particularly welcome the increases in the health and education spend. I share some of my colleagues' reservations that an opportunity has possibly been lost to create social change in order to encourage migration to the regions, remote working, affordable housing and the overall tenet of rebalancing Ireland. I hope that is something the Government will address.

I wish to highlight the €10.1 billion capital allocation, which is also welcome. Will the south east get its 8.89% per capita pro rata share? I remind the Taoiseach of the last capital tracking index from 2018 to 2022 of large-scale capital enterprise. In that, the south east got €97 million. Cork and Kerry got €902 million and Dublin got €5 billion, a rate which is 15 times more per capita.

The major road projects announced yesterday are, I am sure, welcome to constituents, but an upgrade to the N24 to create a southern linkage from Rosslare through Waterford, Tipperary or Cork and on to Limerick to join Galway and Mayo was not mentioned. This would see a step change in the southern region road connectivity and would benefit multiple counties.

It is affordable, it makes economic sense and it is absolutely consistent with green thinking of improving road and possible rail links to the ports of Waterford, Rosslare, Cork and Foynes in Limerick.

There is no mention of specific funding or recognition of Waterford as the future fulcrum of south-east regional economic activity and the driver of same. There has been no announcement on our urban regeneration and development infrastructural funding for the North Quays project. There has been nothing to signal the upgrading of University Hospital Waterford as the lowest-funded model 4 hospital in the country. I correct the record from the last time we spoke, as there is no second cardiac lab diagnostic activity taking place in Waterford at this time and our cardiac waiting list is growing almost exponentially.

Beyond that, there is nothing to recognise the primacy of Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, in the south-east technical university proposal. This is the most highly functioning institute of technology in the country, garnering the highest rate of EU research funding of all institutes of technology. The recent transformation grant was announced of €5.1 million, which places it behind all the other regions with a national university. That hardly seems fair, and we have been seeking capital refurbishment and developments for more than 30 years. With our Waterford metropolitan area strategic plan, our border has not been extended and we cannot take in Tramore or New Ross, although borders in Limerick and Cork have been extended.

What is the Government's future attitude and commitment to fairness for Waterford and the south east? Do we matter in health, education and economic revival? The south east is currently worst performing region in the country and prior to Covid-19, Waterford had the highest city unemployment in the country. Will the Taoiseach commit to future funding so as to bring fairness for Waterford and the south east? Will he commit that this will be delivered in the lifetime of this Government?

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