Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I begin by agreeing wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed by my colleague, Senator Feighan.

Once again, I call on the Leader to invite the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, to come into the House and allow us to have a real debate on the capital investment review that is ongoing. The consultation has just concluded. In the context of Brexit, it is hugely important for the island of Ireland to take control. Yesterday morning, Senator Craughwell had an important Commencement debate with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, on our transport infrastructure needs. When we look at our port, road and rail networks, they are hugely in need of upgrade in order to deal with the change in how goods and people will enter the country but this is also the case with our educational and civic institutions and many more sectors. It is important that we have a serious debate. Many people will speak of potential boons to the economy in terms of pay or structure but we need to lay down a marker that our infrastructure needs to be brought up to speed in order to deal with the headache that is Brexit.