Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Flaherty that Longford has great opportunities open to it and our development agencies are working very hard in the county. The Deputy makes a strong case for Longford, as does the Minister of State in the Department, Deputy Robert Troy, on a daily basis, the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Peter Burke, and Senator Micheál Carrigy. When all of us focus our minds, Longford can do extremely well. It is not just across our Department. We are very much taking a whole-of-government approach to driving regional development and making it a sustainable place in which to invest. Longford town has also been very successful with its urban regeneration project. More than €10 million has been provided to fund initiatives that have been well-planned and put together by the local authority over a long number of years. I was delighted to visit the town a couple of years ago when those plans were put in place. Longford is now securing funding for them.

Our message now to all counties is that if they put in place good strategies and plans, the funds are in place through the national development plan, Project Ireland 2040 and our yearly budgets and are to be won or secured in a competitive way. That will happen as long as the strong plans help us achieve regional development and balance, bringing jobs and other investment.

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