Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, to the House. I will start on the point on which my colleague across the House, Senator Kitt, finished, the amount of money that has been blown on strategies, plans and visions for the west. We can discuss that all day, but I will highlight the only figure outstanding, the €3.65 billion underspend. That has already been put on the record by colleagues, and we are all aware of it through the media. People have been shouting that it has not been spent.

It is not good enough for those of us with western and north-western accents to say that we did not get our lot, justifying it by shouting. We must examine the matter logically from a national perspective, since we must start in the east of the country before we find a solution to the problems of the west. The east has its own problems of congestion and the mass inward movement of people from the west who must seek work in the large urban centres around the Pale.

I will provide an example, which is not anecdotal, since empirical evidence supports it. There is a mass movement of people from the Inishowen peninsula to counties Louth, Meath and Dublin between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on a Monday. I was in a small place called Culdaff last night, where I spoke to the parents of a 19 year old. They told me that their son left at 4 a.m. on a Monday to head to the building sites of Meath for work. He is one of many in Inishowen, and across County Donegal and the west, who head off on a Monday morning to seek employment on the east coast.

That is where the problem lies. There is an excessive pull factor on the east coast and in Dublin. There is a constant drain of people from the west and north west of the country. The east has its own problems of success based on investment. There are problems associated with success, but the west has problems associated with successive failures to invest. The east's problems are associated with overinvestment, since too many resources have been put into one area.

My fundamental premise is that the solution to the west's problems lies in addressing the problems of the east coast. Let us formulate a plan to move people back. It would be apt to raise decentralisation, given the Minister of State's presence. We are all aware of the technical problems of moving public and civil servants. Why not consider a decentralisation plan for those who wish to move out of the Pale, including people from Culdaff in north Inishowen who do not want to drive to a building site in County Meath on a Monday morning? Let us start generating a haven of investment for peripheral areas. The only way that we can do so is by investing in access infrastructure such as the N2-A5 route from Dublin through Strabane and into the north west.

We still do not have 100% roll-out of broadband in this country, something promised in 2002. In the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats programme for Government, it was promised that there would be 100% Internet access through proper and adequate broadband infrastructure. That has not yet happened, although I acknowledge that many companies are involved in the project. North West Electronics is rolling out wireless broadband, considering the needs of the various communities. It is a very good scheme, but it is not going to everyone on the west coast.

If we do not have 100% roll-out of broadband, we are at a disadvantage compared with Northern Ireland, which has the maximum 100% roll-out. Derry, some 20 miles from Letterkenny, has a comparative advantage in attracting inward investment. The region has Derry City Airport, 100% broadband penetration and good access from the main port and international airport at Belfast. Donegal does not have those advantages, since there is no 100% roll-out of broadband, and there are technical, movement and communication difficulties from Dublin, along the N2 and up through the A5. One need only sit in traffic during the day to see that.

I drove down today from Letterkenny, taking the guts of five and a half hours to travel 167 km. That sort of travelling time is not on if we wish to spread resources or attract companies into counties such as Donegal, Mayo, Leitrim and Sligo. If I leave Letterkenny at 11 p.m., it can take me just over three hours. That two-hour differential is not good enough and it does not give us a competitive edge or advantage when it comes to attracting inward investment.

The national spatial strategy is like a football team. Some teams, such as England, look good on paper, but I would not wager too much on it winning the World Cup. Perhaps it will but that is neither here nor there. On paper, Ireland is a great country. We have spatial strategies, and Letterkenny has gateway status. We are examining linear paths and connections and considering Derry as a gateway city for the north west. On paper our plan is impressive, but there is no connectivity or coherent policy on how we move forward.

Six years ago, the then Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy McDaid, spoke of flagship tourism projects for the BMW region. It was said at the time that there would be three, four or perhaps five flagship tourism projects for the north west. Like other aspirations, that did not happen. There was also talk of a necklace of marinas along the west coast, up into Donegal and around Inishowen into the Foyle estuary. That did not happen either, and we have still received no Government funding for marinas in County Donegal.

We have great plans, visions and aspirations on paper, but we will not realise them until we tackle the fundamentals. For Donegal and the north-west coast, that means proper access and bypasses rather than throughpasses. Two-in-one lanes suffice to an extent, but we must think bigger when it comes to access. If there are plans for motorways between Dublin and Galway, Limerick, Cork and Belfast with proper access, why is none planned from Dublin to the north-west coast?

Those fundamentals must be addressed, and let us focus on them when deciding the 2007 to 2013 plan. We must consider the story of the chicken and the egg. Investment will not come to a place such as Donegal if we do not first focus on the fundamentals. We need proper access and broadband infrastructure. There is no reason in 2006, with a commitment given, that we should not have 100% broadband access in a county such as Donegal. There are wireless and ADSL solutions in urban centres, and there is no reason the Government cannot consider satellite options in areas where wireless is unsuitable. These are ideas suggested by communities. If the Minister of State visits Milford in Donegal he will find a community that developed a wireless broadband solution for their area known as "Broadband for the Hills" with Government support. However, there are other areas of Donegal that need intervention from the Department of Finance in order to bring solutions for broadband infrastructure in the west.

I have a message for the Minister. The west can offer solutions to east coast problems. This is not about the west crying or seeking what it considers it deserves. That is not the argument. The west can help to draw in people with skills. Only last week a commercial photographer moved to a rural area of Donegal from Dublin because he has a wireless solution. His wife deals with Government contracts for Bord Bia and she has moved because she now has solutions in terms of infrastructure. Let us look at this issue pragmatically and logically and move people away from the east coast, thus providing a solution to the difficulties encountered in both the east and the west.