Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I accept that the steering committees have been set up but there is a steering committee in the mid-west. When Molex Ireland closed in Shannon, the then Minister, Deputy Humphreys, went to Shannon and brought all of the players around the table. I am asking the Tánaiste to do the same because the one thing that Ballinasloe has going for it is the infrastructure. It has industrial land available and in State ownership, through the HSE, at St. Brigid's Hospital. It has water, waste water and fibre capacity. It is 15 minutes away from the new technological university in Athlone. There are major opportunities to secure foreign direct investment into a campus which is 15 minutes from the dead centre of this country. Ballinasloe is close to Athlone, a town with serious infrastructural challenges, yet it seems we cannot secure investment in Ballinasloe. The Tánaiste needs to take a leadership role on this to ensure we secure major investment.

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