Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fairness is a valid ask. The programme for Government identifies and recognises Waterford as a regional city and investment must follow that designation. The recovery fund in the budget of €3.4 billion is over and above the Covid-19 contingency fund and it will provide opportunities for infrastructural development, reskilling and retraining, as well as supporting investment in jobs.

There are some very good quality companies in the south east and Waterford, in particular. My experience has been that it is important to leverage those quality companies to create an indigenous entrepreneurial activity. Many people from multinationals have gone on to create their own companies, as the Deputy knows. We must work on that agenda. I often felt we could have done better with financial services in Waterford from a foreign direct investment perspective, and I am keen on that.

We want regional development and we need to rebalance the country's economy and society. This means doing far more for cities like Waterford than what has happened in the past two or three decades.

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