Matt Shanahan Demands Delivery for Waterford by Q1 2023

Thank you very much, it is half-time for this Government. I once asked you, perhaps unkindly, were you a Cork Taoiseach, or a Taoiseach that happens to be from Cork. That remains an open question. Under your tenure I have watched Cork flourish, finally putting to bed the sad days of Ford and Dunlop. I know this is an era from which your political philosophy was hewn and from which you draw. As a son of Cork, you have delivered for them, Taoiseach, undoubtedly. The delivery reminds me of Michael Noonan's stalwart's ability to bend our nation's spending towards Limerick. Sure is that not politics after all. When asked what matters to you, you always say community, kit and kin, GAA jerseys. I have often admired the intrinsically Irish qualities you possess, although I might say they have not always worked to mine or to Waterford's advantage. You have accomplishments to point to on the national stage. Your statesmanship has restored an empathy and character to our politics. This lies in stark contrast to the political misfortunes being visited on our traditional friends in Britain and the USA. Your focus on housing and health, your refusal to resile from attending to the most intractable, the most meaningful deficiencies our Republic is commendable, albeit that change comes slowly. It is worth reflecting on what your term in office means for the people I represent Taoiseach. You have been kind enough to meet me on a number of occasions and to support my access to senior ministers and leading public servants. I have pressed, using wide evidence, the Waterford and South East regional agenda to you and to others. Equal health care provision in our acute hospital demonstrated by the need to deliver 24-7 cardiac care. Equal access to university education. Airport access for the region to the UK and beyond. Urban and rural regeneration with focused development of the North Quays. The Abbey Quarter and Trinity Wharf projects. These are all projects that continue to lie just beyond the funding horizon, as yet invisible to the naked eye. I contrast your visible delivery for Cork with my hope, which at this point is all I have to hang onto for my efforts to date, that the initiatives for our hospital, our university, our airport, our North Quays developments will commence soon. It seems somewhat paradoxical to me Taoiseach that this hope has suddenly arisen in the dog days of your term. Quarter 1 2023 appears to be D-Day, delivery day for the revision and the revised administration to deliver cardiac care, the airport, the PP buildings of Setu and the North Quays projects. Expectations are huge Taoiseach and continue to be so. A people who have been failed by national politics for a generation, wait with basic bread. I want to thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I thank him for his initial kind comments, although I felt there was a sting going to come at some stage towards the latter end of your contribution. But I just want to make it very, very clear that the Government is absolutely committed to ensuring eco-opportunities for all our citizens, regardless of geography and regardless of where people live. And we are particularly committed to regional development, because it is important that we get regional balanced development in the country, economic, socially, academic, educationally and culturally as well. And I think you have to acknowledge that the Government was very early in terms of the two calls for proposals under the URDF. Over $110 million under those two calls has been allocated for projects in Waterford City and County. The Government recently approved a final business case for the URDF, Waterford North Quays Public Infrastructure Project. There were some early issues which were not of the Government's making, as you know, in terms of that project. But that enables the largest urban regeneration project in the country to begin. The Waterford North Quays URDF Public Infrastructure Project involves the provision of key sustainable transport infrastructure. It will transform the city and regional access and facilitate game-changing development on the north side of the River Soors. So I think that has to be acknowledged. That's big and it's going to leave a very important legacy to Waterford. Also in terms of the total exchequer funding is about $170 million if you include local authority and the URDF money and NTA funding of about $70 million. And again, Waterford City and County Council will proceed to the main construction contract. The New South East Technological University, that was formally opened in October by Minister Harris. You know the first president, Professor Veronica Campbell, a former bursar of Trinity College Dublin. It's a very strong technological university. Again, the Minister and the department are committed to expanding the footprint of the university in Waterford. The engineering, computing and general teaching building in Waterford have been advanced through the higher education public-private partnership programme. Additionally, construction is scheduled to commence next year on significant energy retrofit projects in Waterford. The Minister recently confirmed approval was given to the Technological University in terms of negotiations with the vendor of a site in Waterford within agreed parameters. Again, to expand the footprint of the university and the city. On November 11, Minister Harris announced $23 million in funding for Technological Universities, a forward of $5.25 million for the South East Technological University. That brings the full funding to close to $20 million now to the South East Technological University if you have taken the $10.6 million of the previous fund. In terms of the second cardiac cat lab, again, University Hospital Waterford is currently progressing the development of that. The construction, completion and handover of the second cat lab is now expected the week beginning the 28th of November. It is next week. I think we then have to equip it. Commission, that is about 12 to 16 weeks. Time is up now, please. So I think that is good progress on that front. Deputy Shanahan. I certainly acknowledge that delivery is on the way and I thank you for that. But I would point out to you that we still cannot see in the South East whether we are getting a fair share of capital funding. And in actual fact TDs essentially vote on a black box in terms of the $10 billion capital allocation. So I think it is a message for government that people across the country need to see this fairness and transparency. And particularly the regions that have not enjoyed the same recovery as Dublin, the South West, Midwest and West. But I think Taoiseach, above all for me and I think for the people of the South East, cardiac care will be the telltale of the performance of this government. And I have written to Professor Nolan again at the weekend outlining both the cardiac transfer data over the last three years out of University Hospital Waterford and the National Office of Clinical Audit report that shows only 5% of patients are getting out of the South East region when the Waterford Cat Lab Centre is closed. So I am asking Taoiseach as your final gift in terms of your finishing tenure as Taoiseach, will you deliver through Professor Nolan's report and I think all the evidence points, the South East needs to be brought in line with the other regions. We need 24-7 care delivered Taoiseach as per the promise they gave in 2016. And if that happens Taoiseach I would say mahu. Thank you Deputy. Goanamaga. Taoiseach. You referenced my geographic origins earlier. I did acquire that land for Waterford Institute back in the late 90s, the land that made all the development on the campus possible in Caryganore. And at the time there was a lot of people questioning the wisdom of that, but in the long term proved, if I say so myself, a fairly far-seeing measure that facilitated the expansion of the University, which I think is key to economic growth. And why do I say that? Like employment in the South East has grown by 8.6% in the last year in the South East. And there are now 79 IDA companies implying about 15,000 people. And as you know a number of significant investments were made. And I do not think that is separate from the investment in the College. And likewise in terms of healthcare facilities, you are right, that is very important. And we have been pushing strongly, and Minister Donnelly has been pushing very strongly the completion of the second cardiac cat lab. Because, again, that is key to the ultimate objective that you have set here. But we need to get that project physically completed. We need to get it staffed. We need to get additional beds into the hospital as well. And additional beds in terms of recovery beds in respect to that second catalab. Thank you very much. Thank you very. Thank you very much.