In my time as a public representative the people of west Cork have been the poor relations of Irish politics. They have fought bitterly for everything they have, with little or no Government support. I refer to the plastic factory in Skibbereen and the proposed harvesting of kelp in Bantry, which would have had a devastating effect on the environment and tourism in west Cork. The Minister could have stepped in on the latter issue but instead stood idly by. I was called an objector by a Minister for standing against these projects. The Government's inaction forced the ordinary, honest people of west Cork to dig deep and take legal challenges, which they won and through which they were proved right by the courts of the land. Following the last round of rural regeneration funding, 48 projects throughout County Cork, particularly those in west Cork, ended up with no funding and shovel-ready projects that could have created much needed employment in west Cork were scrapped. Only two months ago, during Leader's Questions, I raised with the Taoiseach the proposal for a daily park and ride bus service from Clonakilty to Cork Airport and Cork train station. It would have taken hundreds of vehicles off the roads weekly and eased pressures on families in west Cork. While the Taoiseach seemed receptive to the proposal, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport squashed the idea without even conducting research. Seeing as it was Deputy Ross' Department - the man who destroyed rural Ireland - I knew that my proposals were doomed, as rural Ireland and west Cork are not on his satnav. The Government has a legacy of neglect of west Cork which has stifled major employment opportunities on the three peninsulas, namely, Mizen Head, Sheep's Head and the Beara Peninsula extending to Bantry and Skibbereen.

The biggest scandal of this and previous Governments for the people of County Cork is the lack of funding for roads. In the past few years moneys have only been spent on fire-fighting projects, that is, projects to repair roads that have been destroyed by storms and floodwaters. However, nothing has been spent on new bypasses or to pass bays since the opening of the Skibbereen bypass in 2003. A Government must spend on projects in a constituency in order to achieve whatever vision it has, but years of non-investment in major projects and roads in west Cork has left us decades behind the rest of the country. The Innishannon bypass was proposed almost 20 years ago and although many promises have been made, not one shovel has been turned. The southern bypass in Bandon is half-finished. Each year for as many years as I can remember Government politicians have been codding the electorate by announcing that funding will be found to finish the bypass. Of course, as we are talking about west Cork, why would any Government find the funding to finish this much-needed project? We are now hearing about a much needed northern relief road for Bandon which would bring cars from Billie's Drive-Thru on the Cork side of Bandon to the Dunmanway road. We all thought it was a great project, but the people of west Cork should not get too carried away, as it has now emerged that the road will only go half way, as far as Kilbrogan Hill, ruining residential homes and businesses along the way and creating a massive bottleneck in west Cork. It seems the only vision the Government has for Bandon is two unfinished bypasses.

We need a vision for west Cork. The fishing and farming industries are going through disastrous times, but in west Cork we face up to these challenges. Will the Minister tell me what plans the Government has to invest in roads in west Cork? I am referring to new major projects which would at least bring us up to speed with the rest of the country.

One thing is for certain; if the people of west Cork are looking for a vision they are not going to get it from the Deputy. They are not going to get it from such a-----

Take that back.

I ask the Minister to withdraw that comment. I did not personalise anything.

The Government is Dublin-centric. That comment should be withdrawn as it was personal.

The people of west Cork-----

Deputies, please. Let the Minister respond.

That was not a personal comment.

Please let the Minister respond.

All I heard Deputy Collins do was point out the list of the many difficulties and challenges that we know are there. I am aware, as he is, of the challenges faced by our towns, villages and communities in making progress on issues that are important to them, be that the kind of progress we all want to make in regard to local roads, healthcare facilities or, for example, community employment schemes. I am well aware of that. I ask that the Deputy would anchor what he has just said in some acknowledgement of the progress that is being made. I ask him to acknowledge that this year alone the funding we are putting into better infrastructure, better roads, better public transport, better schools, and better hospitals for our citizens is up by 24%. This is more than €7 billion extra in investment this year in projects that will make a difference to all our citizens, including the Deputy's constituents and the communities he has just outlined. I am pleased to confirm to him that as part of the negotiations I currently have under way with many colleagues I am confident that we will continue to make progress. While I acknowledge the areas in which we have to continue to make more progress, I return the point to the Deputy that amidst the litany of failure he has outlined would he not also acknowledge, as I saw at first hand when I visited his constituency earlier this summer, the progress that is being made on roads, schools and in investment that can make a difference to the towns and villages he has just outlined?

In response to the Minister's snide remarks, I was elected by the people of west Cork to represent their views and I do that here to the best of my ability. He should not discredit me or anybody else because when he discredits me, he discredits the people of Cork South-West; that is what he is doing.

Hear, hear.

He did not discredit the Deputy.

The Deputy discredits himself.

If the Minister was in the constituency of Cork South-West, he certainly did not tell me he was coming to talk to the people. I would have taken him to see the roads that are in a scandalous condition and to see the lack of investment throughout west Cork that his Government has continuously overseen. As Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe has had his hands on the purse strings. While I respect that he cannot direct specific projects, he can be part of a Government that creates a change in mindset to create funding for major projects in west Cork. We need moneys that were promised last year to be spent on the much needed repair of the Ballydehob to Bantry section of the N71. More than anything else, will the Government approve immediate funding to complete the Bandon southern relief road, the full northern relief road in Bandon, and the Innishannon bypass? If it does, west Cork will start to catch up with other constituencies. I ask the Minister to please direct his reply to that and not to everything else that I have not said.

As the Deputy will be well aware, I am not in a position to comment on the status of a particular road project in his constituency. He knows this is a decision that has to be made by the Minister in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, with his local authority. I know they are aware of the project referred to by the Deputy and it may come up in the engagement I will have with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, over the coming days.

The Deputy talked about our track record in investment and where we are with figures on the kinds of investment that can make a difference to the issues he has referred to. I will give him a concrete example of this. In 2017, the total investment coming from the then rural and community affairs part of Government was €136 million. The allocation in 2019 is €291 million. This is the kind of change that is under way as the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Michael Ring, works through the roll-out of the rural regeneration and development fund-----

There are 48 projects and no funding for west Cork.

-----a fund that over the years has seen 69 different applications, many of which we will be able to make progress on.

The rural regeneration fund is in place to progress the issues to which the Deputy referred. The Department of Rural and Community Development is well resourced and well funded. Under its stewardship, the type of increased investment for which the Deputy is calling is already under way and will continue throughout the country such that we will be able to make progress on many of the issues to which the Deputy referred, building on the progress that has already been made.