John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister to the House. We have said for years that we suffer from an infrastructural deficit. We have failed to keep pace with the development of the economy, making ourselves less competitive and, in doing so, threatening the future of the economy. With that in mind, I welcome this initiative and the leadership the Government is showing in bringing it forward.

This is a policy that was agreed and put forward in the programme for Government and the Progressive Democrats support and endorse it. Delivering projects in the national development plan is one of the most important challenges facing this Government. Ireland is a dynamic, modern economy but we lack the infrastructure appropriate for such an economy. Our transport system falls well short of the standard prevailing in other European countries. Our rail and road networks need to be improved and those improvements will cost money. The Government is providing substantial funds to upgrade our rail and road systems and has done so over the last five years. If it were not for the forward thinking decisions made by Senator O'Rourke when Minister for Public Enterprise, our rail network would be crumbling into decay. Massive funding has also been poured into the national roads programme. Work is now under way in the development of a major network of inter-urban motorways linking Dublin with the major population centres around the State.

Our infrastructural needs are great and the funding required to meet them is massive. The Exchequer alone will be unable to bear the huge financial burden involved. We must explore other avenues, look at alternative sources of finance and examine new ways of doing business. That is where the National Development Finance Agency comes in. It is an initiative that will enable the Government to tap into new sources of finance, to involve the private sector in a very direct way in the provision of public infrastructure and it will enable the Government to deliver the projects contained in the national development plan much quicker than if it were to rely on Exchequer funding.