Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Internationally, such matters are noted and taken on board by investors and this is really going to stymie us; we have presented ourselves as a small open economy and if we cannot attract in this type of investment we are going to be in bother.

Another matter I have raised with the Taoiseach before is the whole issue of European sites. These are lands designated as special areas of conservation, SACs, under the birds and habitats directives. Unfortunately, most of this land is on the western seaboard. I received some helpful information from the Minister, Deputy Ross on the last day he attended the House. He followed through and gave me details of the some of the projects that have been held up along the western seaboard including the Galway bypass, the N6, the N59 Galway to Clifden road, the Adare bypass and the N26 to the N5 Ballina. The last of these is a problem from 2010, a project which we have had to break down and do in stages. We only recently succeeded in getting planning permission from An Bord Pleanála after considerable delay. This took seven years. This was not only the case with the Galway bypass but these projects are just some I could list of other regional roads, bridges and projects. How much money did that cost? How far behind is that leaving Galway in terms of congestion? What is that doing to the west? If I take the example of the N26 - which comes into my own, Ballina - how far is that leaving us behind? This is what multinationals are saying. The National Parks and Wildlife Service needs to be mandated to create management plans so that we are not just looking at conservation but at socio-economic objectives for these regions as well. There is a legitimate case for these socio-economic objectives.