10 May 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
- EU leadership needed for infrastructural investment – says Cork East TD Sean Sherlock
- M20 can be built and Atlantic corridor opened if Government choose to do so
Cork East TD Seán Sherlock has called on European Union leaders, the Taoiseach “…to negotiate for the Stability and Growth Pact to be relaxed to allow investment in infrastructural projects such as the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway.”
Sean Sherlock is a Labour TD in Cork East
“The debt to GDP ratio is at a sustainable level,” said Deputy Sherlock on Tuesday night, speaking on the Labour Party motion for the State’s share in AIB to be used for infrastructure rather than debt writedown.
“The target debt ratio is 60%, so why is the Government attepting to reach 45% when the country is crying out for investment. We have infrastructural bottleneck such as the M20 on the Atlantic Corridor and if the Action Plan for Jobs is to mean anything in terms of creating 350,000 jobs outside of Dublin, we will need that investment in infrastructure.”
Deputy Sherlock stressed that there is no external pressure for the sale to take place and urged the Government to heed its own advice in that regard.
“There is no external pressure to reach this target. The Taoiseach himself has said this. What we do need for the Taoiseach and EU leaders, and whomever the new Taoiseach will be, to show some leadership and ensure that the Stability and Growth Pact is relaxed before the end of 2018 and the terms and conditions improved.”
“The State has always been the biggest investor in job creation, whether through its agencies or direct capital work. This is no different and the M20 can open up land and jobs in Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and Donegal. All we need is the Government to show leadership in Europe.”
The motion from the Labour Party will be voted on Thursday by the Dáil.
