Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I support the call by Senators Brian Hayes and Ryan for a debate on the enterprise strategy report, about which we have all read this morning. It would be timely to have the debate next week, given that the State Airports Bill 2004 will also be debated. The report has implications for the mid-west region and Shannon Development and it makes a number of interesting comments in this regard. I also have not read the report in its entirety and I am depending largely on media reports. However, I have received a number of calls from people in Clare and the mid-west. There is great concern about the provisions of the State Airports Bill 2004 and the strategy report. People are concerned about their jobs in State agencies and the concentration of industrial development in the region. Under the decentralisation programme, Enterprise Ireland will be based at Shannon. Notwithstanding that, the retention of knowledge and skills of employees of Shannon Development has been crucial to the development of the area. The strategy needs to be addressed in a careful and calculated way going forward.