I am rather sorry to see Deputy John Paul Phelan announce his departure from the House. I wish him and his domestic constituency the very best. I have a good deal of sympathy for his predicament. Like Paudie Coffey, Michael D'Arcy and John Deasy before him, genuine embarrassment was felt to have made electoral promises that simply evaporated at the Cabinet table. For all the blather about public spending procedures and processes, cost-benefit analysis and business plans, capital spending appears to follow Ministers' whims, largely in Dublin but in this Government Cork has had a good haul too.

It is well worth looking at the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform's capital tracker to see this in action. My region is not alone. Voters in large swathes of Ireland, particularly the midlands and north west, appear to have come to the same conclusion. Fairness does not extend to the Cabinet table. This is why Deputy Róisín Shortall walked out of the Government in 2012, sickened by a Minister nabbing two primary care centres for his own bailiwick. No wonder the hospital groupings have proved unstable and, indeed, detrimental in Waterford's case. They continue to corrode progress on the development of Sláintecare. It is why Dublin's Grangegorman campus got the nod while Waterford's Carriganore campus remains in fields. It is why a 24-7 service was delivered in Limerick by a bountiful Michael Noonan but was stymied in Waterford. It is why public-private partnership, PPP, construction contracts to deliver academic teaching buildings in Technological University Dublin and Munster Technological University lashed on, yet those in the south east are still in the vortex of process, plans, procurement and, to paraphrase President Biden, whatever malarkey you are having yourself. Three programmes for Government have been treated like an à la carte menu by the alikadoos of Dublin.

No wonder the likes of Deputy Phelan are heading for the door.

This year, €12 billion will be spent on capital projects in the name of Ireland. Dublin is less than one third of this country but it will chow down on two thirds of the spending, the same as it ever was. When I challenge the Taoiseach or members of the Government on this expropriation, I am the one accused of being the parish pump politician. I am afraid that if the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform's capital tracker is to be believed, the parish pump artisans sit at Cabinet. They are the ones who refuse to share out the fruits of our Republic. It is not the Mexicans who are stealing Ireland's regions’ futures. It is €12 billion this year and €165 billion by 2030. Some 8.9% of the population live in the south east. There is not a hope in hell that we are seeing more than 3% of this money, and the same goes for the midlands and the north west.

Waterford and the south east are still waiting for basic investment in our hospitals, airport, ports, the N24 and N25 and our single university. It is time to deliver something - anything. Without a fair share of capital investment, the losing regions are being left to stew in their own anger. If that anger is not remediated, it will find its voice come the next election.

It is absolutely the job of every Deputy to fight their corner for their county and for their region, and I do not have any difficulty with the Deputy doing so, but it is worth putting on the record of the House the considerable investment that has happened in the south east under this and the previous Governments, and investment that is ongoing and to come, for example, the long-awaited North Quays development now under way. More than €200 million worth of taxpayers’ money is being invested in that project, building a whole new quarter for Waterford city, one that will help to transform the city into an even larger population centre and business centre for the south east. I am really glad that is finally under way.

There has been considerable investment in University Hospital Waterford, one of the best performing hospitals now in the country. It is under a lot of pressure now because of Wexford hospital but that will pass, and it will be back to performing the way it was until recently. There is also the Dunmore Wing, the second cath lab and, of course, more investments to come. I know the Deputy has engaged with my office on that and we are working on further investment for the hospital.

The long-awaited university for the south east now exists in the form of the South East Technological University. We are purchasing the Waterford Crystal site to make sure we can expand student services further in Waterford. As for the engineering building, we anticipate having approval on that this year and I am very keen to make sure it is over the line as soon as possible.

We have also seen considerable investment in the road network in the south east. There is already a very good road between Dublin and Waterford and we have upgraded the road in New Ross, for example, and the Enniscorthy bypass. In addition, one of the biggest investments taking place in the State is going to be in the south east as well, and that is Rosslare Port, again with more than €200 million approved by the Cabinet only the other day to build up that port and to invest in it for the future.

I am also seeing a huge amount of private sector investment in the south east that really encourages me, and some big job announcements, for example, in Kilkenny city, with nearly 1,000 multinational jobs announced in the last year or so, and something similar in Waterford city as well. It is only fair to put on the record of the House that a huge amount of public and private sector investment is going into the region and I believe there is more to come.

In relation to the airport, we have made a commitment to fund the airport so we can have flights between Waterford and Britain again. I want that to happen. The deal was that we would match the funding from the private sector. Now, the cost of the project has gone up again. It is not unusual for that to happen but there has to be an engagement now as to whether we can find more money from both the public purse and the private purse to make that development happen. It is one I am very keen to see happen.

The Taoiseach has reached back into a couple of previous programmes for Government. The North Quays, as he knows, was included back in 2014, to be fair, and it has taken until 2023 to get that approved.

Deputy Mary Butler got it done.

Beyond that, the PPP for our engineering building in Waterford Institute of Technology was actually granted planning permission in 2008. In 2020, I had the pleasure of coming into the Government here to see that project sidestepped while other PPP projects in Cork and Dublin, to the tune of €330 million, were advanced. This is what I am talking about.

The Taoiseach said we are under pressure in Waterford hospital at the moment. I was down there the other day for a ten-year project to move community services out of it. We could only manage to put out a tender to put a roof on a building, and we did not decide to even try to get the building developed so we can move out to get these beds that we need. At this juncture, we do not have a solution to extend the cardiac service because we do not have a dedicated beds solution.

I asked the estates section and I asked the Minister about supplying modular refits to get that done but that is not on the agenda. To be fair, I hear what the Taoiseach is saying about some type of levelling up but we have a long way to go to get there. The capital tracker shows the delay and the lack of funding. We have 9.8% of the population but we are not getting 9.8% of the capital funding.

I share the Deputy's frustration about the fact that so many infrastructure and capital projects take time to come to fruition and I can guarantee that it is not unique to the south east. I will not embarrass myself by listing them, but all of us from Cork and Dublin can tell the Deputy about capital projects in both counties that we would have liked to have started a long time ago but which, for reasons beyond our control, were delayed. That is just one of the realities that we face, although the new planning and development Bill will help to change that, making sure that fewer important infrastructure projects get caught up in the planning system and then subsequently get caught up in the courts.

In terms of where we are when it comes to investment in the south east, the Deputy has my assurance regarding a number of projects. The North Quays project is under construction and we will get it finished. We will get new homes, new businesses, retail units and everything else built there. When it comes to University Hospital Waterford, we will have the second cath lab up and running this year and there will be further investment in that hospital. When it comes to the South East Technological University, we are going to make sure that the Waterford Crystal site is brought into public ownership and that the engineering building is contracted and under construction within months. That is the commitment I make to the Deputy in the House today.