Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for being here for this debate because it is very important. He outlined clearly the success he had in the projects that had been identified as important for Limerick and rightly so. Likewise, I make no apologies for fighting for the projects I think are important for my own area in Cork. There is much good news for Cork. It is not just about looking at Cork. It is about looking at the entire Munster region and the need to change the growth patterns and to make sure we do not continue with the expansion of Dublin and leave other areas behind. This is what the national development plan is doing. It is about making sure that areas like Limerick, Cork and Waterford develop and that the necessary infrastructure is put in place for them.

A number of key projects in Cork are included in this programme. In respect of the development of the Port of Cork, it is one of the best harbours in the world and its development is extremely important. It is fine having a harbour and a port facility through which we can export but we need a road infrastructure to get to it. Part of that infrastructure is the development of the new road from Tivoli to the port itself and the Dunkettle interchange. The Cork-Limerick road or, as the Minister of State would say, the Limerick-Cork road, is an important development as well. The other connection for which I fought very hard is the north link road in Cork city because there is no point in people travelling at 120 km/h from Limerick to Cork and then coming to a stop. There is also an important development in the north link road connecting the Cork-Limerick road to the Cork-Dublin road and connecting the roads servicing the port of Cork. They are all very important.

Over the past 30 years, the population of Munster has grown by over 250,000 people. The population of Cork city and county has gone from 410,000 to 542,000. We need to create the necessary hospital facilities. The provision of a new hospital for Cork is included in the development plan. I raised a Commencement matter this morning about the process for identifying a site for this new facility because it is one thing putting it into a plan. The next thing is delivering it. It should not be the case that once the plan is published, we just park it. We all have a part to play in making sure it is delivered. The three key words for me are plan, develop and deliver. This is extremely important for each of these projects. It is important that we also try to set targets for delivery in each of these projects. It has taken 25 years from the time we first talked about the national children's hospital to when we put in the foundations. I do not want this to happen with this project in Cork, which is one of the reasons I will continue to raise this issue until I know the work has started, the development can commence and the project is finally delivered.I suppose there are other issues in relation to Cork, including road infrastructure, hospital facilities and third level education. The new business school in Cork is an important development in a growing area. As many multinational companies are based in Cork, it is important for such educational supports to be available. I think we have hit all of the right points with regard to the delivery of this plan. We have the plan and now we need to develop it and deliver it. We need to set clear targets for that delivery over the next ten years.