Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would also like to wish the Minister all the best. I am not sure if he is going to be Minister for Finance or the Taoiseach. Only time will tell.

The reality is that this Government puts aside money every year for capital projects and fails to deliver on some of them. Meanwhile, areas like Cork North-Central are screaming out for funding and investment because of under-investment over the years. I refer to the northern ring road and northern distributor road. The Minister is a Cork man. I invite him to drive to the north side of Cork city and Cork North-Central, and return to his constituency in Cork South-Central and tell me there is balanced and even development and investment by the Government. The people I represent see articulated trucks and heavy goods vehicles driving through residential areas because this Government and previous Governments have failed to deliver investment in the north side of Cork city.

It is not just about roads, but also primary care centres in places like Blarney and Ballyvolane. It is also about housing. There is a difference in investment on one side of the city compared to the other. The north side has been neglected for decades. That is why I ran on a campaign to end the neglect of the north side. When the Minister becomes the Minister for Finance I hope he will deliver the money we need because there is huge under-investment. We need schools, jobs, roads and investment in the north side. There is sheer frustration from the people I represent when they see hundreds of millions of euro not spent when they are crying out for investment.

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