Matt Shanahan criticises exclusion of Watford from €108m aviation fund

Thank you, Ciarán Córle, and thanks again to the Minister for attending, and let the Minister take a seat there. Minister, in my contribution last night, I touched on the carryover of €800 million spent into 2022, and I also highlighted many of our Watford issues, and though I wanted to keep the observations to a national context, the announcements overnight, I am afraid have forced me otherwise, and those are the Department of Transport support package of €108 million to regional aviation. Yet again, they have bypassed Watford Airport, and not alone did we not get any money out of the total €160 million package, but in actual fact the Department withdrew €350,000 support packaging and stopgap funding, while we are awaiting the development of a new runway, subject to Board Planola permission. The funding was withdrawn, Minister, despite Watford being the busiest private flying airport in the country, despite it seeing significant expansion and the recent announcement of the Atlantic Flight Training Academy, and despite that a planning application pending when on board Planola. In the Transport Committee two weeks ago, I asked the Senior Principal Officer for a response to why Watford was being excluded. I am still waiting on that Minister. So the question I would ask you firstly, is the Cork base now the preferred location for a future Rescue 117 contract Minister? Because that appears to be what this policy is saying. In relation to our hospital services, I have highlighted to you Minister and to your colleagues the failure of South West Hospital Group to expedite the cardiac team, 24 hold-time equivalents to cardiology to expand our hours. We are still at 39 hours per week, the most underfunded Model 4 hospital in the country of nine, with the third longest waiting lists in the country. A thousand less hold-time equivalents than Limerick, two thousand less than Cork. WIT were still waiting for an announcement on the capital funding that you have in mind, Minister, despite that it was announced for Dublin and Cork to use prior to their designations. It has also been confirmed now that the College cannot borrow from the EIB to support student teaching space, only student accommodation. In the meantime, an engineering block promised since 2012 Minister now looks like it will not be delivered before 25 or 26. It is hard to understand all of this in the context of the programme, Minister, the programme for government and citing Waterford as the centre for expansion of the South East. I refer to Deputy Ring's speech in recent days, Minister. How does a public servant get sacked in this country? Because it appears to me that everybody in government tells me they are trying to initiate policy to support Waterford in the South East, so I can only conclude that it is being held up within the departments itself. I think maybe if we are going to issue new Covid certificates, maybe we should develop a new national certificate for people from the South East, Minister, so we can clearly delineate them from the rest of the population and discriminate them as we are to funding in our region. I would say to you Minister, if developing Waterford in the South East is a significant part of your programme, why is it that we suffer the procedural delays that do not attach to any other capital projects? Why the endless financial reviews and project reviews that we suffer, while others skate on unhindered? 800 million, Minister, I could certainly point to you where it can be spent in the most underfunded region in the country.