I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this matter for debate. It is something I am very interested in and is something that communities across the State and in my constituency are very interested in. They struggle to understand why we cannot do better on it. It is about access to playing pitches, playgrounds and public green space. In my home county of Meath during the 20 years between 1996 and 2016 the population significantly increased and it continued in this vein until 2022, which is the latest census we have. There are thousands of houses but parks, playgrounds and public playing pitches did not materialise. The truth is that our communities were failed and continue to be failed. During the Celtic tiger developer-led construction and poor planning meant we got dense residential estates but zero public green space. The people of Meath lived up to their side of the agreement. They bought houses, raised families and built communities but local and central government failed to live up to their side. The Minister of State in his response will likely point to the planning and development Acts, development plans, guidelines for planning authorities, the sustainable residential development and compact settlement guidelines and probably to other planning Acts because we have asked these questions previously. The fact of the matter is that it is not happening. The parks, pitches and playgrounds are not being delivered. The truth is when we ask who is responsible for making it happen we get pointed to somebody else or we get a blank response. We have a siloed planning system and communities right across the State - I am talking about my constituency of Meath East and I live in one of this communities - are being failed. We are being incredibly frustrated by the lack of progress. I am frustrated because this is an issue I am passionate about. It is one I have tried to make constructive contributions about but we are seeing no progress. Along with colleagues, I launched Delivering Liveable Urban Spaces, Sinn Féin's policy document, alongside our proposal for a dedicated public park, green space and woodland fund, which we call Ciste Beithe. Our proposals are clear and practical and the Government should listen to them. We want the sequencing of developments, meaning playing pitches, parks, playgrounds and river walks must be delivered in tandem with houses and not put on the long finger. We want funding ring-fenced from development levies and we want green and blue spaces placed on an elevated footing in our county development plans. Most importantly, we want the voice of local communities heard at every step, from design to planning to delivery. If implemented, these proposals would transform County Meath and every other county. They would help us to build communities and not just houses. They would ensure that our children have somewhere safe to play and they would give us a fighting chance of dealing with the policy failures of the past. There needs to be a policy change and a step change to empower local authorities as a matter of priority to deliver on this vital community infrastructure. Will this happen?

Sentiment score: 0.11

I am aware of all that detail, and it actually spells out what the problem is. That is the current state of affairs and it is not working. The Minister of State knows this as well as I do. Anyone who is a public representative, and anyone who has an interest in sport, the outdoors or building communities, knows this is not happening at a local authority level or in county development plans. Too much is dependent on a deal being made between a local community and a local developer to provide a pitch as part of a housing development. It is a nonsense. Communities are being failed as a result. In many places, the community facilities never materialise because they are promised and when the houses are delivered, the developer has left. We have to get this right. Too many communities have been failed. Along with Sinn Féin colleagues, I met representatives of the GAA. They spoke about the report published by the GAA, No One Shouted Stop - Until Now: The GAA's Response to Ireland's Demographic Shift. This is a document about rural depopulation and rural decline. It is also directly related to massive pressure in urban areas. The representatives spoke about the need for support for balanced rural development and its inclusion in planning policy frameworks. We need to strengthen frameworks. There was a reference to Britain having a 6-acre standard, which local authorities should deliver on. In regard to delivering facilities with the OPR, I welcome this aspect. There is a need to develop an all-island sporting facilities strategy, as is zoning for sport and recreation facilities, as well as funding for sport and recreation facilities. There are two major issues. One is that the planning rules and guidelines need to be improved. We have 4,000 schools in the State, and there is an ad hoc arrangement for getting access to their sporting and green spaces. This needs to be addressed.

Sentiment score: 0.02