Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

We are all waiting to see how the national development plan will proceed. Obviously, all of our areas require a lot of investment in infrastructure. The infrastructural deficit we have, especially across the west, is something I have raised with the Minister quite a number of times. We also need to look at procurement and how it can be used to benefit areas, particularly those more rural and isolated areas where different types of jobs are not as easy to come be. If we are spending a certain amount above a certain threshold, we need to look at introducing social clauses into the contracts as well to ensure that a certain number of apprentices on board and a certain number of people who live locally hired for these projects. We could thereby ensure that the money benefits local economies and that people can stay within their local areas.

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