Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

If the Minister names the golden circle, I will name the islands. I visited Cléire, if I can refer to the west coast of Cork. The Minister argued that the report does not point out that the population of every county along the west increased between 2002 and 2006. I will read from the report:

The total population of the Western region reached 762,335 in 2006. This was an increase of 57,187 people since 2002... All counties on the western coast saw increases in their population, with counties such as Kerry increasing from 132,527 to 139,835.

I am not sure whether the Minister or his officials have read the report, which is disappointing. This is not about me, the Minister or the Government — the report is bigger than all of us — it is about a vision for the west of Ireland that requires us to work together. I was somewhat disappointed with the Minister's tone. He knew the information and how we got into and out of the islands. Obviously, some of this stuff was factually misrepresented. I am sure it was not deliberate on the Minister's behalf.

This report comes about as a result of meeting groups across the west coast. I have had the privilege of meeting people who have been working at the coalface of communities in trying to overcome the difficulties they face every day. While the report deals with some of the difficulties, it also deals with some of the successes. The Minister mentioned that I did not acknowledge the infrastructure developments in the west. I acknowledge the infrastructure investment, particularly in islands. I stated: "In spite of increases in public expenditure and improvements to infrastructure, the population of the Islands continues to decline." The report does not call for an investment in infrastructure. I called for a continued investment in infrastructure. I tried to deliver a fair and balanced report. I do not know that it is possible to argue with any factual point it contains. Most of the information came from departmental officials whom I met in drawing up the report.

I thank all the Senators who spoke. I believe all of them commended me on the report, with the exception of Senator Keaveney. I particularly commend Senators O'Toole and Ó Murchú who called for this debate in the first instance. I wish to deal with some of the issues I raised in the report. We need structural reform in terms of the west. We can all look at wee projects. I do not want to put the Minister on the spot because that is not what the report is about. It is not about what will happen to a particular road or project, it is about a bigger vision, and we need to consider the ways to deal with it.

A regional impact assessment guaranteed in law exists, for example, in the Six Counties under section 75 of the Equality Act. It should be tailored here to deal with the regions which means that if policies were developed that would negatively affect the regions there would be an onus on Departments to address those policies. This is something that previous Ministers of this Government support. We need that type of structural reform to ensure that balanced regional development is central to any Government decision. We also need a review of the national development plan. Regional development is not a central part of the national development plan and it needs to be.

I uncovered a number of areas while compiling the report. For example, some targets that were set in the past no longer exist. We need to reintroduce targets. I will not wave the target around and tell the Minister that he did not meet the target. We must focus the minds of opinion makers and policy developers so that they examine the west as an area central to policy decision, not as an afterthought. Targets for tourism spend must be identified. We cannot have a situation where the combined tourism spend in 2006 in Leitrim and Roscommon amounts to less than 1%. This is intolerable. We must have target spends for the regions and sub-regions and we must have targets for job creation figures for those regions. We see that 8.1% of IDA companies and jobs went to the majority of the western counties such as Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Clare and Limerick. That is not acceptable.

We must increase our graduate placements and support our universities and institutes of technology in respect of research and development. The report identifies the lack of funding going to the west. The majority of the 10% funding spent on research and development goes to Galway. Other institutes of technology and third level institutions are negatively affected. The problem for the future of the west is the brain drain. Some 38% of graduates from the west can find employment in their home counties, compared to the national average of just under 80%. We all know that is a problem and we must address it.

There are positive aspects to this report, which is not just about identifying the problems. Identifying the solutions is the most difficult aspect of a report such as this. In doing so, I have examined international best practice and what Commissioner Danuta Hübner calls the top ten of regional development. This is contained within the report and unfortunately I do not have the time to go into them.

There is imbalance in Government spending. Of the 19 national road projects completed in 2007, only two were in the west. The only major public transport infrastructure project, which the Minister supports, the western rail corridor, requires €200 million to finish the job. Metro north will cost €3.7 billion. Which one is under threat at this point? Which one does the media, commentators and political opinion makers target? They target the project in the west and not the Dublin project. That is what this report is about, creating a counterbalance, asking for a fair share, and the Minister and I, along with every boy and girl, man and woman in the west, every community organisation, business group, trade union official and people working in the public sector standing together to say this is what we need for the future of the west.

We must acknowledge the advances made in the Minister's Department. The Minister is genuine in his sincerity with regard to the needs of the west but more can be done. We cannot sit on our hands and say this is what we have done so far. We must have a bigger vision for the future.

There was heavy dependence on construction, agriculture and fishing in the west, which are in decline. The west will be in a worse position to recover from the economic recession unless we invest and create tools and support for a strong region to bounce back.