Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming here today to hear our concerns on a number of issues for which he has responsibility. The people in my county, Donegal, heard yesterday's radio debates involving Deputy Alan Kelly and others with some raised eyes because it is decades since Donegal had its rail tracks torn up; we have no rail in the entire county. Worse than that, in the counties of Derry and Donegal with a population of almost 500,000 there is no rail connection, no motorway or dual-carriageway connection and no air link to our capital city. That historical neglect is indefensible.

I am sure the Minister has seen the report entitled Connected by IBEC and CBI. The report sets out a vision for an all-Ireland transport infrastructure as we head to a population of 10 million by 2050. Page 5 has a map of motorway and dual-carriageway on the islands with a complete blank spot in the north west, which has been that way for many a year. Page 9 of the report shows the rail network which is also a complete blank spot for the people of the north west. While I appreciate the Minister's earlier point that all Senators and Deputies will understandably raise the concerns of the places they are from and the people they represent, I put it to him that the case for the people of the north west is obvious and needs to be addressed.

It has only worsened in the advent of the Brexit vote in June. In his speech the Minister outlined how his Department will be addressing that. One key way to do so is to address that regional imbalance and the denial of equality of access to the people of the region in which I live.

The St. Andrews Agreement followed on from the Good Friday Agreement and stabilised the institutions in the North. It reinforced the Good Friday Agreement, which had been voted on by the people. The Irish Government subsequently committed to £400 million in co-funding for the A5, that is, the dual carriageway from Donegal and Derry leading into Dublin. Today that has now been reduced to €75 million. Sadly that project was delayed by a High Court decision. I understand that the issues leading to that High Court decision have been addressed and the project is now shovel-ready to commence in 2017. I ask the Minister and his Government colleagues to work with his colleagues in the North and in the North-South Ministerial Council to address the shortfall in funding and to adequately support this vital project on the basis of the arguments I have made at the outset.

The people of Donegal need to benefit from the A5. Letterkenny is the main population base and the key point in terms of public services, hospitals, institutes of technology, industry and so on. We need to build the Letterkenny relief road, which is not contained in the capital plan for this period. I ask the Minister to review that at the earliest opportunity. In addition, the N14 links most of Donegal into Lifford-Strabane at which point it joins up with the A5. It is an all-round vision and I ask the Minister to look at that.

Obviously, I welcome the announcement of the bid to host the Rugby World Cup. It was good to see our political leaders across the island united together along with our rugby stars. I welcome that one of the locations in that bid is Celtic Park in Derry. If we can bring the Rugby World Cup to Ireland it is vital that is played in all corners of the island. However, the lack of an air link between Dublin and Derry will undermine the project. The City of Derry Airport is at the economic and tourism heart of our region with 40% of the passengers using the airport being from Donegal - over 150,000 a year. However, since 2011 the Government here has not invested one cent in that airport, which needs to be addressed.

The Wild Atlantic Way has been a success. I talked to tourism promoters who universally praised the initiative. If we can join the dots together as far as the causeway coast, we would have a great product to offer people. Most tourists coming into Ireland from North America and Europe fly into Dublin; we need a connecting flight from Dublin to Derry if we are to get the region moving.I ask the Minister to consider, at the earliest opportunity, meeting the board of the City of Derry airport.

We recently received some exciting news, namely, the public service obligation connecting London and another airport to Derry. Ryanair flights were removed, which created a real panic in the region. Since then there has been really good news. There will be substantial investment in the airport. Things are moving in the right direction. I visited the area on Friday and the potential of the airport is really exciting. It has the capacity to provide for 650,000 passengers, which is almost double the current number. A lot of good work has been done. I ask the Minister to meet the representatives. They are intelligent, positive and can-do people. I am sure when he meets them he will get that sense.

If a public service obligation is not possible, I ask the Minister to consider a partnership arrangement with the Northern Executive. Could route development funds be contributed? There should be some contributions made to the airport, in particular to put in place a link between Dublin and Derry.

My final comments relate to the Irish Coast Guard. The Minister correctly referred to it in glowing terms in his comments. He knows the service is one of four core primary emergency response services in the State, the others being the Garda, the fire service and the ambulance service. It is asking to be placed on a statutory footing and for legislation to be put in place to ensure it has the same status, resources and structures as other emergency services. I ask the Minister to consider meeting its personnel to determine how he can put legislation together. I am sure it is something he would want to do in order to reassure the service. It is concerned about its future and it would be important to provide it with reassurance.

I thank the Minister for his attention. I appreciate that much of what I have said are issues he has inherited. As has been proven in his contributions in the Chamber over the years, he has proven to be somebody of considerable ability. I hope he can work in partnership with the people of our region to turn things around.