Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire as bheith anseo inniu don díospóireacht thar a bheith tábhachtach seo. Before I move on, I wish to note a couple of things I picked up from the previous contributors. First, with great respect, there was a suggestion made by Senator Ryan that we engage in a betrayal of our national identity with a lack of investment in the Irish language. I am a living, breathing example of the exact opposite. My parents do not have a word of Irish but I am fluent because of the investment in Gaeltacht areas. I wish to contradict what was said.

As a councillor, I have seen huge investment in my own local town of Loughrea through the RRDF funding for projects like the town hall. This has ensured the vital sustainability of rural Ireland such as my own local town. However, there are a few constructive suggestions I would like to bring to the table. For example, we have 17.6% of the population of Ireland in the midlands and the north west, yet when it comes to tenders of €1 million, we have enjoyed just 9.9% of them since 2016, and just 5.7% of those in excess of €20 million. There is a need for a small rebalancing there. The Minister engages in good work in the Department, but I would like to see a bit of rebalancing in that Department, particularly in projects like the western rail corridor and the east Galway main drainage scheme, which has been a huge inhibitor to the development housing over recent years. That is something I would like to see developed as time goes on.

Maidir le cúram leanaí agus an Ghaeilge mar theanga, níl ionad cúram leanaí lán-Ghaeilge amháin in Éirinn taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht sna 26 chontae, ach tá trí cinn i mBéal Feirste. Más féidir, tá géarghá le hinfheistíocht san earnáil cúram leanaí sna blianta atá romhainn.

Mar fhocal scoir, if we want our young people to set down roots and invest in the midlands and the north west, we need to make sure that we have a rebalancing of investment in that area.