I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words on this Bill. I will give the Government the benefit of the doubt because, for too long, this country has been starved of infrastructure. We are strangled and tied down and I cannot see the benefit of this amendment by insisting that we are to go through this Chamber. I realise all the different political views that different Members have from different counties. We would finish up without agreement on anything important that we need for our counties. Each of us would be fighting our corner, which we would be well entitled to do. For my part, Kerry has been starved of an awful lot of infrastructure. For instance, in Kenmare, we have no public water supply at the present time. Many towns and villages have inadequate treatment plants. There are villages without any treatment plant like Scartaglen and Curragh where the sewage is being drawn into Killarney. It is the same story in Beaufort where the sewage is being drawn into Killarney. We have all these places without any treatment plants. We must find the best way to hurry these things along. Uisce Éireann has a lot of work to do but we cannot be seen to be holding it up inside this Chamber with debates as to whether it should be Beaufort or Brosna or some place in Limerick or Cork. We are behind in so many ways now. For a country that is first to bring in every type of new regulation, we are behind with many of the critical infrastructure projects that are needed. Even when it comes to the basic local improvement scheme, LIS, we are way behind in Kerry, with some 560 to 570 roads on the LIS. People appreciate the last half or quarter mile to their door. We can do all the motorways and national primary and secondary roads but the road to the door should also be good. The people of Kerry and rural Ireland are entitled to a road to their door every bit as much as the people in Dublin 4. I cannot and will not support this amendment tonight. We have been waiting for so long. There are judicial reviews, analysing and scrutinising and we are paying environmental objectors money each year to object to projects. That is the actual truth of it. You could not build a hen house now anywhere without some fella putting in an objection, and he could be 100 miles away. I am glad to get this opportunity. I will support the Government on this. If it does not work, then I hope I will be back here telling the Government that it is not working. I am giving it the chance to put this Bill forward to see whether it will help us because we are in a desperate way. People who need planning are waiting far too long. It is time to do something about it. This has been promised for a long time and I hope it works. I hope, for the Government’s sake, that it works.
Sentiment score: 0.09
It was not my phone.
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Why do Members always look at me?
Sentiment score: 0.00