Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 18 Nov 1997

Vol. 482 No. 8

Written Answers. - Western Development Commission.

Enda Kenny

Ceist:

30 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will report on the recent meeting with the Western Development Commission; the action agenda, if any, he has for the future in relation to the commission's future remit and resources. [17254/97]

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

48 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will give details of recent meetings with the Western Development Commission. [16882/97]

Paul Connaughton

Ceist:

54 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the outcome of the recent meeting with the Western Development Commission; and the proposals, if any, he has to provide assistance to the board. [17605/97]

John Bruton

Ceist:

69 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the issues discussed at recent meetings with the Western Development Commission. [17045/97]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh):

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 30, 48, 54 and 69 together.

With the Taoiseach, I met with the Western Development Commission on 14 October last.

The meeting discussed the overall brief of the Western Development Commission which is to promote the development of the west by working with the State agencies and development organisations currently operating in the region.

The rationale behind the recent strategic changes in departmental functions and in particular the addition of the western development function, which was formerly in the Department of the Taoiseach, to the rural development portfolio in my Department, was clarified.

Subsequent to that meeting, I met with the chairman and chief executive officer of the commission to discuss in more detail their strategy for implementing its terms of reference and the progress made to date. A number of strategic projects for the development of the region, which have been identified by the Western Development Commission as requiring priority attention were outlined. I am contacting the relevant Ministers on these matters. In addition, I have also arranged to meet with those Ministers who have constituencies in the western region to discuss how best the work of the Western Development Commission can be assisted.

I propose to meet these Ministers on a regular basis to discuss issues arising from the work of the commission. I believe that the experience of this broad-based group of Ministers with constituency knowledge of the region will provide an additional political focus and support for the commission.

I will be meeting again with the full board of the Western Development Commission in early December and I propose keeping in regular contact with them.

I believe that my role as the responsible Minister for the Western and Rural Development portfolios combined with the additional expertise of individual Ministers and the personal commitment of the Taoiseach to its work, will provide the Western Development Commission with the necessary support to enable it to realise its primary objective which is the regeneration of the western region.