West misses out on Euro millions in infrastructural funds once again

Not for the first time has Galway and the West of Ireland lost out on critical funding for major infrastructural projects – simply because the region was not prioritised by the Government.

And MEPs from the West have been accused of having been “asleep at the wheel” as the region’s access to a lucrative €26 billion fund has been blocked.

Last year it was revealed that a group within the European Union had actually made contact with the Department of Transport wondering why there were no applications for funding for infrastructural and economic projects in the West of Ireland.

Now it has been learned that another ‘arm’ of the EU, the Trans-European Transport Network, has not had any submissions relating to the West of Ireland for funding.

It seems that plans for infrastructural development, like roads and rail, submitted by this Government relate to projects along a corridor from Belfast to Cork and including Dublin but not the West of Ireland.

It means that there will be no funding for any future redevelopment of an airport in the region; it also rules out any further extension of the motorway north of Tuam while the development of the Western Rail Corridor is also scuppered.

Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins has now demanded a meeting with Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to try and determine why the West was excluded from their submissions for funding.

The Trans-European Transport Network is scheme by the European Commission that will see €26 billion released across Europe between 2014 and 2020 in order to create a state of the art transport network across 28 member states and is aimed to promote growth and competitiveness in all areas.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.