Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)

I too welcome the Minister to the House and wish him well in his portfolio. It is appropriate that we are discussing balanced regional development because the Minister is well-equipped to know about balanced regional development and what we in the western and northern and midland regions are missing. Like others, I was at the Northern and Western Regional Assembly presentation last week.Many Members have alluded to the fact that there is a population of almost 1 million over there, including 500,000 workers, but there is still slightly higher unemployment than in the rest of the country. I will come back to that fact. I have many percentages written down here, with regard to population, tenders, etc. and what we are missing out on. Those figures have been given out and I will not go over them again. However, it is fair to say we are not getting our fair share, particularly in relation to the east and the midland region, but also to the southern region. It is time we got our fair share. It is time the national development plan became balanced. It is not just about balancing at this stage. It is about positive discrimination, as well as catching up. In our region we have one of the highest percentages of those with a degree. We are the highest in the country, but universally we are right up there. We have to start getting our fair share when it comes to universities, and similarly with regard to health. Many of the hospitals in our regions are doing more with fewer funds but are scrapping to keep services going and to catch up with waiting lists. On the back of all that, we are then trying to attract consultants with new positions made vacant. That is hard going when hospitals are not properly funded and the types of services we should have are not there yet.

The Minister is aware that national primary routes still need to be delivered in our region. I am delighted the A5 has got €600 million from the Government. I look forward to the court case in Northern Ireland coming to a successful conclusion. I know there is the possibility of an appeal there, but at least that appeal will only be for a six-week period. That is a really important strategic route for us in the north west. The N2 is another piece that TII needs to do a lot more work on. That is the southern end, and they are well behind in planning and need to move it on. The Ten-T planning process is well under way, and I look forward to that getting to tender within the next 15 months. With regard to rail, I do not have to tell the Minister we have no rail. It is imperative that a plan be put in place for the all-Ireland rail strategy. Even if it is 40 years down the road, a plan has to be put in place. We need to think ahead in that regard, and there has to be joined-up thinking. Derry has to be joined by Donegal, and Donegal with the west coast. There has to be an all-Ireland strategy with regard to rail.

The potential for offshore floating wind in the north west has not been realised. This is a point I want to drive home very strongly today. With whatever wind energy sites we have in Donegal and the turbine in Ballyshannon, 23 hours of what is produced every day is dumped because we do not have the capacity to carry it to the south. EirGrid's plans for the north west and our region are completely inadequate. We are sitting on the second most opportunistic site off our coastline for offshore wind. If EirGrid and the Government do not get themselves together on this, we will miss out massively. We cannot afford and cannot accept EirGrid and the Government not to step up and give us the opportunities the other sites across the country are getting. That is a demand we need to have, and it needs to be delivered on.

Tourism Ireland was set up after the Good Friday Agreement. I think it is only right it be funded to ensure the wild Atlantic way, the causeway coast and the ancient east are all joined up and marketed as one. Moreover, there is a lot of expectation on the Minister's shoulders, but we have real needs and I am delighted he is at the table. It is fitting that he is, because he is an able Minister, and we look forward to working with him.