It is half time for this Government. I once asked the Taoiseach, perhaps unkindly, whether he is a Cork Taoiseach or a Taoiseach who happens to be from Cork. That remains an open question. Under his tenure, I have watched Cork flourish, finally putting to bed the sad days of Ford and Dunlop. I know this was an era from which the Taoiseach's political philosophy was hewn and from which he draws. As a son of Cork, he has undoubtedly delivered for the city. This delivery reminds me of Michael Noonan's stalwart ability to bend the nation's spending towards Limerick. Sure is that not politics after all?

When asked what matters to him, the Taoiseach always says it is community, kith and kin, and GAA jerseys. I have often admired the intrinsically Irish qualities he possesses, although they have not always worked to my advantage or that of Waterford. He has accomplishments to point to on the national stage. His statesmanship has restored an empathy and character to politics here. This lies in stark contrast to the political misfortunes being visited on our traditional friends in Britain and the USA. His focus on housing and health and his refusal to resile from attending to the most intractable and meaningful deficiencies of the Republic are commendable, although change comes slowly.

It is worth reflecting on what his term in office means for the people I represent. He has 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 him and to others. That agenda includes equal healthcare provision in the acute hospital in the region, as demonstrated by the need to deliver 24-7 cardiac care; equal access to a university education; airport access for the region to the UK and beyond; and urban and rural regeneration, with focused development of the North Quays, along with 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 the Taoiseach's 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, university, airport and North Quays developments will commence soon. It seems somewhat paradoxical that this hope has suddenly arisen in the dog days of the Taoiseach's term. Quarter 1 2023 appears to be D-day, or delivery day, for the revision and the revised administration to deliver cardiac care, the airport, the public private partnership buildings of the South East Technological University, SETU, and the North Quays projects. Expectations are huge and continue to be so. A people who have been failed by national politics for a generation wait with bated breath.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I also thank him for his initial kind comments, although I felt a sting was going to come at some stage towards the latter end of his contribution. I will make it very clear that the Government is absolutely committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all our citizens, regardless of geography or where people live. We are particularly committed to regional development because it is important we get regional, balanced development in the country, economically, socially, educationally and culturally.

It has to be acknowledged that the Government acted very early on the two calls for proposals under the urban regeneration and redevelopment fund, URDF. More than €110 million has been allocated for projects in Waterford city and county under those two calls. The Government recently approved a final business case for the URDF Waterford North Quays public infrastructure project. As the Deputy knows, there were some early issues with that project that were not of the Government's making. That funding, however, 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 Suir. That has to be acknowledged. This is a big development that will leave a very important legacy to Waterford. The total Exchequer funding for it is approximately €170 million if local authority, URDF and National Transport Authority funding of about €70 million is included. Waterford City and County Council will proceed to the main construction contract.

The new South East Technological University was formally opened in October by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris. Its first president, Professor Veronica Campbell, is a former bursar of Trinity College Dublin. It is a very strong technological university. The Minister and Department are committed to expanding the footprint of the university in Waterford. The engineering, computing and general teaching building in Waterford is being 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 for negotiations with the vendor of a site in Waterford within agreed parameters, again to expand the footprint of the university in the city. On 11 November, the Minister, Deputy Harris, announced €23 million in funding for technological universities, including a further €5.25 million for the South East Technological University. That brings the full funding to that university close to €20 million, if the €10.6 million of the previous fund is taken into account.

University Hospital Waterford is currently progressing the development of the second cardiac cath lab. The construction, completion and handover of the second cath lab is now expected the week beginning 28 November, which is next week. We then have to equip and commission it, which will take 12 to 16 weeks. That is good progress on that front.

I certainly acknowledge that delivery is on the way. I thank the Taoiseach for that. I point out, however, that the south east still cannot see whether it is getting a fair share of capital funding. In fact, Deputies essentially vote on a black box when it comes to the €10 billion capital allocation. It is a message for the Government that people throughout the country need to see this fairness and transparency, especially those regions that have not enjoyed the same recovery as Dublin, the south west, mid-west and west.

Above all, for me and the people of the south east, cardiac care will tell the tale of the performance of this Government. I again wrote to Professor Philip Nolan at the weekend outlining both the cardiac transfer data over the past three years out of University Hospital Waterford and the findings of the National Office of Clinical Audit report, which shows only 5% of patients are getting out of the south-east region when the Waterford cath lab centre is closed.

As his final gift in his tenure, will the Taoiseach deliver on foot of Professor Nolan's report? All the evidence points to the south east needing to be brought in line with other regions. We need 24-7 care delivered as per the promise given in 2016. If that happens, I will say, maith thú.

The Deputy referenced my geographic origins earlier. I did acquire that land for Waterford Institute of Technology back in the late 1990s. This was the land that made all the development on the campus possible in Carriganore. At the time, a lot of people questioned the wisdom of that but in the long term, it proved to be a fairly far-sighted measure that facilitated the expansion of the university, which is key to economic growth. Why do I say this? Employment in the south east has grown by 8.6% in the past year. There are now 79 IDA Ireland companies employing approximately 15,000 people. A number of significant investments were made. I do not think this is separate from the investment in the college.

Likewise in terms of healthcare facilities, the Deputy is correct that this is very important. The Minister for Health has pushed strongly for the completion of the second cardiac cath lab because, again, that is key to the ultimate objective set by the Deputy. We need to get that project physically completed and staffed, and we need to get additional beds into the hospital and additional recovery beds in respect of that second cath lab.