Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

As I already said, the Minister of State is wrong. It is an indication of the depth of his sincerity when he says, "Welcome to Parlon country", and other such clichés. We know the depth of sincerity that is inherent in such statements. Civil servants also know a great deal about this matter.

We have been told there will be an even distribution of infrastructure within the BMW region although we can clearly see that is not the case. The NRA intends placing tolls on roads west of the Shannon. That is an impediment to industrial development in the west. A toll of €10 has been mooted for travel between Galway and Dublin and vice versa. That would be an impediment to progress and balanced regional development.

If the Minister of State does one thing, he should ensure that we do not have tolled roads west of the Shannon in areas of disadvantage. These places need encouragement which they have not yet received. Some 1,300 jobs have been lost in the town of Ballinasloe. We have been told the infrastructure there is inadequate and potential industrialists are not interested in locating in such areas. If tolls are added to this equation they would further add to the difficulty of encouraging industrial development to locate in this area.

Statistics announced yesterday pointed to a significant increase in the number of unemployed people in County Galway. The same towns that were frequently mentioned in the darkest days of unemployment are now re-emerging as trouble spots — Ballinasloe, Tuam, Loughrea and Gort. How can the Minister of State consider this good Government? Where is the allocation of funding to targeted areas evident? I felt it incumbent on me to challenge some of the statements made by the Minister in the House.