Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

They are satisfied that they have received a fair deal from the NRA. Concerns were expressed by Senator Higgins about the BMW region and why it has not caught up with the other regions. The Senator will agree that if we were to improve the infrastructure between Ballyhaunis and Dublin, one could start on the Ballyhaunis side with the first 50 km. of motorway. However, this would not be the sensible way. In the first part of the plan, we have majored in working the five spoke wheel out from Dublin. Whether one is travelling from Ballyhaunis, Cork or Dundalk, 50 miles from Dublin there are either recently completed motorways or works in progress. The BMW region will catch up quickly in the second phase of the plan.

Senator McDowell was concerned for our competitiveness. The recent report on this raises some concerns. He stated that our ranking has dropped from 11th to 24th to 30th place, respectively. I thought he was referring to the Fianna Fáil popularity poll. It really is not funny, but when one gets into the competitive premiership league the criteria are strict. We have lost some ground but we are still in the premiership league for competitiveness. We must watch our Ps and Qs. The successful completion of the national development plan, taking into account the very positive and far-reaching recommendations from the ESRI report, will show that the position we have taken is correct.

Clearly the report suggests prioritisation of investment based on cost benefit analysis. This may be an issue for the Waterford road considering the prioritising of further investment in the national development plan and the massive moneys that are still to be spent. A decision will be taken on that basis.