Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I join my colleagues from the west, Senators Burke and McHugh, in referring to the BMW region. Will the Leader consider providing Government time for a debate on the entire panoply of quangos, semi-State companies, agencies and other non-elected bodies which have been created over the past ten years? I grew up with two issues – saving the west and draining the River Shannon – neither of which has happened. It is highly unlikely that bodies such as the Western Development Commission will add to the generation of prosperity needed in the BMW region. The bodies concerned have been obstructionist in the extreme and of no great advantage.