Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the assembly requests a meeting in the normal way, I will certainly give it favourable consideration but it is not my practice to agree to meetings in the Chamber. It is not fair on other people or bodies that do not have a TD to make the request for them in the Chamber.

The point I was making as is often made to me is that GDP is not everything, whether it is comparisons within Ireland or the EU. I challenge the Deputy to look at average incomes and how the north west of Ireland region compares with average incomes across Europe. I challenge her to do the same with regard to employment levels. This is a Government that is investing in rural Ireland and our regions. I will provide three small examples. One is the national broadband plan, which is a €3 billion investment connecting every home, farm and business in the country to fibre. We are probably one of the only countries in the world that is doing it.

We did it against official advice and against a lot of opposition. We did it because we believe in rural Ireland and regional Ireland. With the technical universities, including the Atlantic TU in Sligo, every region in Ireland now has a university.

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