Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the support of a number of Senators for the national spatial strategy. As part of the Government's work to embed the national spatial strategy in the investment plans of Departments and agencies, these bodies must now report annually to the Department of Finance on the fit between their capital expenditure and the national spatial strategy. This is a critical part of the capital envelopes arrangements.

The BMW region is now the second wealthiest Objective One region in the entire European Union.