Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I encourage the Minister of State to press ahead with decentralisation and to leave aside the negative comments that have been made. Some 20 years ago, 1,500 jobs were successfully moved to Limerick, Ennis and Nenagh. Nothing is insurmountable in this matter and if some people have difficulties they can be ironed out. Overall, however, the decentralisation policy needs to be pursued vigorously.

As regards the regions, the Minister of State should talk to his colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment about the consolidation of Shannon Development's work in the mid-west region. Shannon Development has operated successfully in the region since 1959 and is an example for other areas of how such an organisation can successfully combine tourism, industry and regional development. When the Government examines the reorganisation of industry, it should continue to support Shannon which has enjoyed such support in the past. In that way the company can continue its regional development work in the mid-west.