Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To return to what I said at the beginning, these are bottom-up plans. They are plans that are derived by the key stakeholders themselves in each region. They are the people who know the opportunities and threats in their respective communities. The Ireland west plan is chaired by a very good entrepreneur who has created a very successful company and job opportunities in the west and who is working collaboratively with the key stakeholders in the west to devise a plan that is unique to the west of Ireland. That is how the plan originated.

It will be published in March and by the time we launch the plans we will launch the funding streams that will be available to each region. Under the previous plans, there was a funding stream of €126 million. We anticipate that funding stream will be even higher this year to ensure that the aspirations of each plan, which is unique to its region, can be realised.

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