Senator Fidelma Healy Eames:   Very good. It is a political hot potato with people being misled. It is mentioned in the programme for Government. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The Senator has misled them. I was the only one who went to Claregalway and told the people how it would happen, and it is happening exactly as I said it would happen. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: I would like the Minister to document that in the text of his answer. I do not want to lose all my time because the good Cathaoirleach might just cut me off. I am delighted the western rail corridor is proceeding. I understand the link between Ennis and Athenry will be open by August. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: Again, an objector from Gort was involved. Otherwise the project would have been completed by May. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: I am delighted to see that happening. However, the project needs to be kept going because until the western rail corridor runs to Sligo the region will not have the full benefits. While I know the Minister supports it, we do not want to see the funding in any way jeopardised. Can the Minister tell me when the Oranmore rail station will be open? I cannot count the calls I have received on the matter. The Minister knows I live in the town, but I know he also has an interest in it. An Cathaoirleach: The Senator has one and a half minutes of her time left. I am reminding her a bit early. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: We need improvements on the interurban rail services. For example, the Galway to Dublin service was supposed to be an hourly service to allow people to put in a full business day in Dublin. For a trip from Galway to Wexford, for example, the only option is five hours by car, which is not good enough. Air connections from the west to international destinations are critical. Shannon Airport has been allowed to be downgraded over time. Regional airports are at risk. The PSO will be critical after 2011 to maintain connectivity. What commitment will the Government make in that regard? There are major safety issues for regional airports. They eat up between one third and half of their budgets, as I know from having been on the board of Galway Airport. Broadband is required, like the air we breathe, for business and leisure. It is very patchy and could solve the disadvantage and isolation of the area so that it would be just as attractive to do business in Bohola as in Ballsbridge. Some 25% of the rural areas in the region have no broadband access. The national broadband scheme proposes to roll out 1 gigabit, but that is only a fraction of what is needed. Business needs 10 gigabits. How can we be truly competitive without this? As I lost much of my speaking time, I would like the Cathaoirleach to be generous with me on this point. An Cathaoirleach: The Senator’s time is up now. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: In eastern Germany GPs are getting older and they are not being replaced. Instead telecommunications are being used to diagnose and treat people, and network them into centres of excellence via broadband and television monitors in order to link to the medical expertise and records. This is a solution we could use here but we are not doing it. An Cathaoirleach: The Senator’s time has concluded. My hands are tied. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: First, we need the vision and, second, we need the broadband infrastructure. Let us consider the debate about BreastCheck, which does not cover people north of the Dublin to Galway line. An Cathaoirleach: I call Senator Doherty. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: I am disappointed to put on record that—— An Cathaoirleach: My hands are tied. The time was ordered at seven minutes. Senator Fidelma Healy Eames: I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence. I would like to say, because of the toing and froing, I have probably lost two minutes. An Cathaoirleach: I must be strict on time. Senator Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Seanad. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sé i ndáiríre mar a dúirt mé faoi go leor uaireanta anseo sa Seanad maidir le cúrsaí an iarthair. The Minister is very passionate about the west. I need to take him to task on a few matters. First, he is factually incorrect in stating that I only visited one island off the west coast during compilation of the report. I do not know where he is getting his information. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: I take it back. Ar phointe eolais, dúirt daoine ar chúpla oileán eile gur thug an Seanadóir cuairt orthu. Senator Pearse Doherty: I have very little time. The other thing is—— Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: It is like naming—— Senator Pearse Doherty: If the Minister names the golden circle, I will name the islands. I visited Cléire, if I can refer to the west coast of Cork. The Minister argued that the report does not point out that the population of every county along the west increased between 2002 and 2006. I will read from the report: The total population of the Western region reached 762,335 in 2006. This was an increase of 57,187 people since 2002... All counties on the western coast saw increases in their population, with counties such as Kerry increasing from 132,527 to 139,835.
I am not sure whether the Minister or his officials have read the report, which is disappointing. This is not about me, the Minister or the Government — the report is bigger than all of us — it is about a vision for the west of Ireland that requires us to work together. I was somewhat disappointed with the Minister’s tone. He knew the information and how we got into and out of the islands. Obviously, some of this stuff was factually misrepresented. I am sure it was not deliberate on the Minister’s behalf. This report comes about as a result of meeting groups across the west coast. I have had the privilege of meeting people who have been working at the coalface of communities in trying to overcome the difficulties they face every day. While the report deals with some of the difficulties, it also deals with some of the successes. The Minister mentioned that I did not acknowledge the infrastructure developments in the west. I acknowledge the infrastructure investment, particularly in islands. I stated: “In spite of increases in public expenditure and improvements to infrastructure, the population of the Islands continues to decline.” The report does not call for an investment in infrastructure. I called for a continued investment in infrastructure. I tried to deliver a fair and balanced report. I do not know that it is possible to argue with any factual point it contains. Most of the information came from departmental officials whom I met in drawing up the report. I thank all the Senators who spoke. I believe all of them commended me on the report, with the exception of Senator Keaveney. I particularly commend Senators O’Toole and Ó Murchú who called for this debate in the first instance. I wish to deal with some of the issues I raised in the report. We need structural reform in terms of the west. We can all look at wee projects. I do not want to put the Minister on the spot because that is not what the report is about. It is not about what will happen to a particular road or project, it is about a bigger vision, and we need to consider the ways to deal with it. A regional impact assessment guaranteed in law exists, for example, in the Six Counties under section 75 of the Equality Act. It should be tailored here to deal with the regions which means that if policies were developed that would negatively affect the regions there would be an onus on Departments to address those policies. This is something that previous Ministers of this Government support. We need that type of structural reform to ensure that balanced regional development is central to any Government decision. We also need a review of the national development plan. Regional development is not a central part of the national development plan and it needs to be. I uncovered a number of areas while compiling the report. For example, some targets that were set in the past no longer exist. We need to reintroduce targets. I will not wave the target around and tell the Minister that he did not meet the target. We must focus the minds of opinion makers and policy developers so that they examine the west as an area central to policy decision, not as an afterthought. Targets for tourism spend must be identified. We cannot have a situation where the combined tourism spend in 2006 in Leitrim and Roscommon amounts to less than 1%. This is intolerable. We must have target spends for the regions and sub-regions and we must have targets for job creation figures for those regions. We see that 8.1% of IDA companies and jobs went to the majority of the western counties such as Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Clare and Limerick. That is not acceptable. We must increase our graduate placements and support our universities and institutes of technology in respect of research and development. The report identifies the lack of funding going to the west. The majority of the 10% funding spent on research and development goes to Galway. Other institutes of technology and third level institutions are negatively affected. The problem for the future of the west is the brain drain. Some 38% of graduates from the west can find employment in their home counties, compared to the national average of just under 80%. We all know that is a problem and we must address it. There are positive aspects to this report, which is not just about identifying the problems. Identifying the solutions is the most difficult aspect of a report such as this. In doing so, I have examined international best practice and what Commissioner Danuta Hübner calls the top ten of regional development. This is contained within the report and unfortunately I do not have the time to go into them. There is imbalance in Government spending. Of the 19 national road projects completed in 2007, only two were in the west. The only major public transport infrastructure project, which the Minister supports, the western rail corridor, requires €200 million to finish the job. Metro north will cost €3.7 billion. Which one is under threat at this point? Which one does the media, commentators and political opinion makers target? They target the project in the west and not the Dublin project. That is what this report is about, creating a counterbalance, asking for a fair share, and the Minister and I, along with every boy and girl, man and woman in the west, every community organisation, business group, trade union official and people working in the public sector standing together to say this is what we need for the future of the west. We must acknowledge the advances made in the Minister’s Department. The Minister is genuine in his sincerity with regard to the needs of the west but more can be done. We cannot sit on our hands and say this is what we have done so far. We must have a bigger vision for the future. There was heavy dependence on construction, agriculture and fishing in the west, which are in decline. The west will be in a worse position to recover from the economic recession unless we invest and create tools and support for a strong region to bounce back. Senator Feargal Quinn: I welcome the Minister and Senator Doherty’s report. When I was seven years of age my party piece was “The West’s Awake”. It is a smashing song and I remember it well. I was impressed by the words Senator Doherty used in the report. The purpose of the report is to identify these social and economic needs of the west and to bring forward proposals for redevelopment. There appears to be a belief that the Government can do everything. We must solve the problems of the west and the problems of Ireland by doing it ourselves. We must lift ourselves up by our bootstraps, with the help of the Government. I met Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor in the Bush Administration, who is a bright young woman. She was the first Asian in the Cabinet in the US. Her job was to ensure that jobs would be created but she said that it was not her job to create jobs. Rather, it was her job to create the environment so that others could create jobs. One may say this is a Republican view but it is the truth. We will not succeed if we expect someone else to make the jobs for us. We will succeed if we make the jobs here. It is our task in this House and the Minister’s task in Government to create the environment where jobs and enterprise can blossom and grow. On too many occasions, I have attended meetings, such as partnership meetings, where we sought to create jobs. This was not necessarily in the west, which I do not know as well. I went to the meetings with loads of ideas about various matters and discovered that the majority of those at the meeting wanted to send a deputation to Dublin to get the Government to do something for us. We must get out of that mindset. I remember an occasion in the west when our youngsters were babies. We stayed in Glenbeigh, Kerry. There was a lovely restaurant called Ernie’s, which is no longer there. I remember deciding to go out on horseback because someone had laid on horses for us to ride. We needed someone to mind the baby and we found a babysitter. The babysitter would not accept payment because the parish priest had said that the country, the parish and the county were having a difficult time and that people wanted to encourage tourists. For this reason, they were not going to accept payment and it was clear that there was a commitment in the parish and the county to solve the problem themselves and not ask someone else to do it. If I have a criticism of the report, it is that we are almost expecting someone else to do something for us. Senator Doherty will say this is not the point but there is some degree of this mindset in the report. I found it startling that in 2007 just 8.1% of the 9,216 new IDA-supported jobs were located in counties Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare, Limerick or Kerry while Galway or Cork accounted for 21% of these new jobs. These were concentrated on the gateway towns of Galway and Cork. I welcome the proposal to support smaller, indigenous companies. The report found that grants made available by county enterprise boards are based on a model that is 15 years out of date. If that is correct — if we are relying on figures 15 years out of date — the grants system must be updated urgently, as recommended, so it is more supportive of local businesses and that the grants will suit the businesses rather than having businesses adapt their models to suit the grants. There are a number of essential proposals such as the western rail corridor, which is critical to the development of the west. This is the only major inter-regional rail project for the western counties in Transport 21. It is under threat due to Government cutbacks. We do not have enough money to do everything we would like to do. It seems unwise not to go ahead with that project, given that it would cost less than €200 million. It is lovely to throw out this figure as it means nothing but I compare it to the metro north project in Dublin, which is estimated to cost €3.7 billion. The former project should not be subject to cutbacks in the same way and it should proceed as planned. It is critical infrastructure that is essential if we are to create business in the area. Some eight or nine years ago I was in Singapore, a country that wanted to be the hub of the Internet society. Everyone in Singapore had an e-mail address and everyone was getting broadband. Broadband is mentioned in the report and it is fundamental that broadband is rolled out in rural areas for job creation. There is a continuing lack of this critical infrastructure but it is capable of being provided. I wish to draw attention to another report, by Irish Rural Link, which argues that even though the Government has announced a new broadband scheme, it will not deliver 100% coverage and has serious technical limitations in respect of liability and capacity. The report is entitled The good, the bad & the inadequate. It says the broadband scheme will not provide the quality of connection needed by rural businesses to trade online. The report shows that 12,000 homes and business premises in areas not covered by the scheme cannot get broadband. We have referred to this today and I am confident the Minister’s heart is in the right place. There must be a greater emphasis on high-speed fibre-optic networks rather than using mobile phone masts to supply broadband. Owing to the expected delays that will arise relating to planning permission for the telecom masts for the broadband scheme, the Government’s forecast for the roll-out of broadband in the west is probably unrealistic. Has the Government any sort of back-up plan for when the inevitable delays will come about owing to planning permission objections against those masts? I am delighted the Minister has given attention to the matter and I am pleased we have had this debate today. The matter needs concentration of effort and serious attention. One time when the Minister was in the House I quoted the seanfhocal I can remember from my schooldays, “Éist le fuaim na habhann agus gheobhaidh tú bradán”, or: “Listen to the sound of the river and you will catch the salmon.” It is possible to achieve a great deal if we listen to the needs which exist. We should put our hearts behind the idea that the people must do it for themselves. The enthusiasm and commitment is there and all that is needed is support from us. Senator Paddy Burke: I congratulate Senator Doherty on producing this report and acknowledge the tremendous amount of hard work he put into it. I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on rural decline and the west in particular. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, to the House and congratulate him on doing a very fine job as Minister in his Department. I know he is fully committed in everything he does but in regard to the west, he is not getting any help from his colleagues. In his speech the Minister stated: In terms of developing the west, I trust we can all agree on the fundamental point that the western region is intrinsically a good place to live. In any initiative to develop the west we never fall short of that measurement of quality of life.
One would wonder what that means. Does it mean the quality of life is so good in the west of Ireland that we should leave the people as they are? That would seem to be the way County Mayo has been treated, especially over the past ten years. The Minister has met deputations from various businesses in County Mayo, including Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Baxter, Hollister and Coca Cola with regard to rail and road transport links into County Mayo. These businesses are all big employers, with more than 1,000 employees in most of them. They have very fine plants and have been very fine employers for many years in our county. They will leave our county, leading to worse than what has happened in Limerick, because of the state of the freight rail and road links in County Mayo. These companies have been complaining about this matter for the past number of years and this is coupled with one of the highest electricity charges in Europe as well as water and sewerage costs. In County Mayo our water and sewerage costs are among the highest in the country because local authorities have very few ways of raising funds. They use water and sewerage charges as the new rates to raise funds and keep services going within the local authority area. These businesses are under pressure from infrastructure needs and rising costs. The Minister and the Government must consider the matter carefully and give it the attention it deserves. The Minister mentioned decentralisation, indicating that he was delighted it did not go to the gateways. Taking the rural guidelines as outlined by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, there are hub towns such as Castlebar, Ballina, Tuam and others. The rural planning guidelines laid down by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government indicate the hub towns must grow at the cost of the other towns. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The Senator should read the national spatial strategy. Senator Paddy Burke: I was at the committee where the Minister spoke on this and one can see what the Minister has put in place in the Mayo county development plan. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The matter is clear. Senator Paddy Burke: In the Mayo county development plan, the Minister has indicated that the hub towns must grow to the detriment of other towns such as Ballinrobe, Charlestown and Claremorris. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The national spatial strategy is the issue. Senator Paddy Burke: I am only giving my reading of our county development plan. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The mistake made in Mayo was that nobody read the spatial strategy. An Cathaoirleach: Senator Burke, without interruption. Senator Paddy Burke: The Minister can read what the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has put in place in our county development plan. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: There will be no change in Government policy. Senator Paddy Burke: The hub towns are to grow to the detriment of the others. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: No. Senator Paddy Burke: The councillors must take this into consideration when formulating a plan for the hub towns. They can only grant zoning to the other towns—— Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The relevant part is section 3.5 on page 51 of the spatial strategy. It is all there. Senator Paddy Burke: I beg to differ with the Minister so it makes a mockery of what he has said with regard to the gateways and hub towns. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: I will read it out later. Senator Paddy Burke: There are many agencies which have failed the west, such as the tourist board. A number of years ago the tourist board promoted golf on a broad basis. Since Padraig Harrington became the star he has grown to be in winning three majors, the tourist board seems to have stopped advertising golf in this country. Since the Ryder Cup was held here in 2006, very little advertising has been done by Bord Fáilte to attract people to golf in Ireland and to learn to play the game in our links and parkland courses where one of the greatest golfers in the world has learned to play. I cannot figure out why that is the case. Along the western seaboard we have some of the finest links courses in the world but they are not being promoted properly by our tourist board. Much more could be done. With regard to fishing, we have the greatest lakes and rivers in the west and we are lacking in our promotion of those areas. Senator O’Toole mentioned the rail link from Limerick to Sligo, and this line should surely be extended to Sligo and up to Donegal and Derry so we can have a rail link around the country. Spain is economically similar to us and since 1992, it has had intercity fast rail linking every city in Spain. Every city is also linked by dual carriageway or motorway as well. They have made great use of the money they got from Europe but apparently we have not done the same over the same time. Perhaps it was easier for them to build a fast rail link. We do not have any fast rail line in this country and although we have upgraded our rail links, we do not have the high-speed lines seen in other countries. I do not know the reason for this but we have fallen short in many things. From the perspective of those in the west and County Mayo in particular, we have fallen short in our transport links and infrastructure into the county and the region. That bears out exactly what the Minister said in his speech. My interpretation of it is that perhaps those regions are just as well to be left where they are. Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív): I take exception to the Senator’s final remark because I am one of the few people who can say they went to the west to create jobs and stuck at it when times were tough. Senator Paddy Burke: I said at the outset I was not blaming the Minister but he was not getting help from his colleagues. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív: The point I made is one that I stick to. Going around the west I see two types of community. One is always waiting for the solution to come from the outside and the other is getting on with the job and selling its area in a positive way. The communities which succeed are those which recognise the infrastructural deficits that exist — I know all about them — but which also know their strengths and advantages and play to their strengths while addressing the infrastructural deficits that always take longer to solve. The community, on the other hand, which says it cannot do anything until we sort out all the problems of the world are literally dying. |