Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister and Senator Doherty's report. When I was seven years of age my party piece was "The West's Awake". It is a smashing song and I remember it well. I was impressed by the words Senator Doherty used in the report. The purpose of the report is to identify these social and economic needs of the west and to bring forward proposals for redevelopment. There appears to be a belief that the Government can do everything. We must solve the problems of the west and the problems of Ireland by doing it ourselves. We must lift ourselves up by our bootstraps, with the help of the Government. I met Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor in the Bush Administration, who is a bright young woman. She was the first Asian in the Cabinet in the US. Her job was to ensure that jobs would be created but she said that it was not her job to create jobs. Rather, it was her job to create the environment so that others could create jobs. One may say this is a Republican view but it is the truth. We will not succeed if we expect someone else to make the jobs for us. We will succeed if we make the jobs here. It is our task in this House and the Minister's task in Government to create the environment where jobs and enterprise can blossom and grow.

On too many occasions, I have attended meetings, such as partnership meetings, where we sought to create jobs. This was not necessarily in the west, which I do not know as well. I went to the meetings with loads of ideas about various matters and discovered that the majority of those at the meeting wanted to send a deputation to Dublin to get the Government to do something for us. We must get out of that mindset.

I remember an occasion in the west when our youngsters were babies. We stayed in Glenbeigh, Kerry. There was a lovely restaurant called Ernie's, which is no longer there. I remember deciding to go out on horseback because someone had laid on horses for us to ride. We needed someone to mind the baby and we found a babysitter. The babysitter would not accept payment because the parish priest had said that the country, the parish and the county were having a difficult time and that people wanted to encourage tourists. For this reason, they were not going to accept payment and it was clear that there was a commitment in the parish and the county to solve the problem themselves and not ask someone else to do it.

If I have a criticism of the report, it is that we are almost expecting someone else to do something for us. Senator Doherty will say this is not the point but there is some degree of this mindset in the report. I found it startling that in 2007 just 8.1% of the 9,216 new IDA-supported jobs were located in counties Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare, Limerick or Kerry while Galway or Cork accounted for 21% of these new jobs. These were concentrated on the gateway towns of Galway and Cork. I welcome the proposal to support smaller, indigenous companies.

The report found that grants made available by county enterprise boards are based on a model that is 15 years out of date. If that is correct — if we are relying on figures 15 years out of date — the grants system must be updated urgently, as recommended, so it is more supportive of local businesses and that the grants will suit the businesses rather than having businesses adapt their models to suit the grants.

There are a number of essential proposals such as the western rail corridor, which is critical to the development of the west. This is the only major inter-regional rail project for the western counties in Transport 21. It is under threat due to Government cutbacks. We do not have enough money to do everything we would like to do. It seems unwise not to go ahead with that project, given that it would cost less than €200 million. It is lovely to throw out this figure as it means nothing but I compare it to the metro north project in Dublin, which is estimated to cost €3.7 billion. The former project should not be subject to cutbacks in the same way and it should proceed as planned. It is critical infrastructure that is essential if we are to create business in the area.

Some eight or nine years ago I was in Singapore, a country that wanted to be the hub of the Internet society. Everyone in Singapore had an e-mail address and everyone was getting broadband. Broadband is mentioned in the report and it is fundamental that broadband is rolled out in rural areas for job creation. There is a continuing lack of this critical infrastructure but it is capable of being provided.

I wish to draw attention to another report, by Irish Rural Link, which argues that even though the Government has announced a new broadband scheme, it will not deliver 100% coverage and has serious technical limitations in respect of liability and capacity. The report is entitled The good, the bad & the inadequate. It says the broadband scheme will not provide the quality of connection needed by rural businesses to trade online. The report shows that 12,000 homes and business premises in areas not covered by the scheme cannot get broadband. We have referred to this today and I am confident the Minister's heart is in the right place. There must be a greater emphasis on high-speed fibre-optic networks rather than using mobile phone masts to supply broadband. Owing to the expected delays that will arise relating to planning permission for the telecom masts for the broadband scheme, the Government's forecast for the roll-out of broadband in the west is probably unrealistic. Has the Government any sort of back-up plan for when the inevitable delays will come about owing to planning permission objections against those masts?

I am delighted the Minister has given attention to the matter and I am pleased we have had this debate today. The matter needs concentration of effort and serious attention. One time when the Minister was in the House I quoted the seanfhocal I can remember from my schooldays, "Éist le fuaim na habhann agus gheobhaidh tú bradán", or: "Listen to the sound of the river and you will catch the salmon." It is possible to achieve a great deal if we listen to the needs which exist. We should put our hearts behind the idea that the people must do it for themselves. The enthusiasm and commitment is there and all that is needed is support from us.