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

That last assertion is ridiculous. No one is gunning for anybody. The Government does not want to close any airport; it has no interest in closing any airport. The Minister amended the tender requirements for search and rescue to specify that four bases, in Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford, would be provided for. It depends on the lens through which one looks at things. I think the Deputy is developing a conspiracy theory that does not stack up in respect of the specific issue of a tender for search and rescue.

The Government allocated €100 million in supports from the urban regeneration and development fund for two projects in Waterford, namely, those relating to Waterford city north quays and Tramore town centre. It is not the Government's fault that there has been a difficulty in respect of one of those projects. The Government allocates funding to local authorities on the basis of projects that are submitted to Government. It is then up to the local authorities and people on the ground to execute those projects and to spend their allocations. The Government showed its commitment by allocating substantial and record funding under the urban regeneration and development fund. The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, along with the Tánaiste, will shortly publish a new south-east regional enterprise plan. That is a bottom-up plan that has been developed by local stakeholders, including the local authorities, enterprise agencies, local enterprise offices, regional skills fora and education and training institutes in the region. The plan is progressing very well. The south-east steering committee will meet next month to sign off on the strategic objectives and supporting actions. It is then intended to publish the plan.

There are 74 IDA Ireland client companies now in the south-east region. These employ 13,461 people. The foreign direct investment performance in the region has been strong over the past five years. Employment has risen among IDA Ireland client companies by 24%. The main clusters in the region, as the Deputy knows, are high-value manufacturing, with more than 10,000 jobs in the life sciences cluster of companies spread right across the region. That will grow. The level of foreign direct investment has been positive and that is reflected in the south east. The region has very important clusters now in technology, engineering and industrial technologies, and international financial services, which are complemented by research centres. Repligen announced 130 jobs in Waterford in August 2021. Bausch + Lomb announced 130 jobs in July 2021. Horizon Therapeutics announced 90 jobs in June 2021. Trilateral Research announced 40 jobs in Waterford in November 2020. CSC announced 75 jobs in Wexford in November 2020. State Street announced 400 jobs in September 2021. There is also the technological university for the south east. Great progress has been made on that. We are hoping all parties are working towards its establishment on 1 May 2022. Funding has also been provided. A catheterisation laboratory has also been announced for University Hospital Waterford.

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