Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Or the OECD. It is one of the best organisations with which we have had meetings. There is input into the plan in terms of figures that have been put forward by the OECD and the ERSI. The ERSI stated that it expects the population to grow by 1 million up to 2040 and that 660,000 additional jobs will be created. I like the way in which the Government has split up investment under the plan throughout not only the various cities but the rural areas right down to the local towns. As was pointed out by several previous speakers, the Minister, Deputy Ring, will have €2 billion to invest in towns with a population over 10,000 people and €1 billion for towns with a population under 10,000 people. That is a great idea as it means towns in my county such as Castlebar, Westport, Ballina and Ballyhaunis will get their fair share of the spoils when they are handed out.

A former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy announced a decentralisation programme in the early 2000s but no funding was put in place for it even he planned decentralisation programme to various towns throughout the country was a good plan but no funding was put in place for it. This plan should incorporate a certain degree of decentralisation and I hope that can happen. If a Department is decentralised to a town with a population of 10,000, 12,000 people or a greater number, its impact is probably better than the opening up of an industry in some cases. There is also the advantage of the availability of cheaper housing than is available in Dublin. There would be cheaper accommodation for the staff and for the various Departments and it also would free up office accommodation in the cities.

It is a good idea to rebalance the population in the country. Dublin and the east coast has been growing at an enormous rate. While the boom years brought some great benefits with the building of motorways from Dublin to Waterford, Dublin to Cork, Dublin to Limerick, Dublin to Galway and the operation of fast rail services from Cork, Galway and Limerick to Dublin. However, a rebalancing of the population has not taken place. This plan can help in that respect. The plan will also help the north west and the western region which did not see the same level of investment as other regions during the boom years. The roads from Mullingar to Westport, Mullingar to Sligo and from Sligo to Donegal need to be greatly improved greatly. This plan provides that the Westport to Turlough section of the N5 will be funded over the next two years. The road from Mullingar to Longford will be a motorway and the road from Longford to Sligo and from Longford to Ballaghadereen are all included in this plan.

The Technological Universities Bill, which is at the stage of almost being passed, will be a great addition to the regions in that we can say that we have a technological university in Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. When they seek to sell their ideas, seek investment and foreign students, they can say that they have the numbers and large complexes with university status, which is a great selling point.

The EU Finance Commissioner appeared before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and the Taoiseach yesterday and he stated there was quite a considerable amount of funds in Europe that had not been drawn down by various countries although he did not mention Ireland.I ask the Minister of State to look into that because the Commissioner said that it was inefficient departments and inefficient governments that had not drawn down those funds. He mentioned a number of countries. He did not mention Ireland. Perhaps that was because he was in Ireland or perhaps it is not the case here. If it is the case, however, I would like the Minister of State to look at the issue and to investigate whether there are funds which this country has not drawn down.