Many of our rural villages are being allowed to die on their knees because of Government inaction. They are being strangled due to the obstacles that are put in the way of people who want to develop changes. My journey here today took me through the village of Aughrim, which has not seen any proper development for the past decade and a half. The lack of infrastructure such as wastewater treatment is strangling the development of desperately needed housing in the village, which would keep local people in the local school and living locally instead of exporting them across the world. Lack of State support is one thing, but that to which I refer is particularly infuriating for the entrepreneurial minded people I met today who want to build small clusters of houses in these villages and those who want to develop facilities for tourism or maybe repurpose an old building or a closed down building. They are, however, met with obstacle after obstacle, bureaucracy over regulation and strangulation due to the lack of wastewater treatment capacity. This is preventing people getting planning permission and is replicated in many other villages I represent, including Camolin, Ferns and others. I also visited the schools in Camolin and Aughrim. The lack of infrastructure is having a really bad impact because young families cannot build houses and settle down in either village. They cannot live in the area so people are getting exported. I met quite a lot of young people from farms who cannot get permission to build. This is like something out of Stalinist eastern Europe as far as I can see. Local post offices are closing as are local Garda stations. People are finding impossible to access GPs. There is a lack of affordable childcare, affordable housing and reliable public transport in these areas of north Wexford and south Wicklow. In many ways from my memories I see that rural Ireland has been abandoned by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I see similar stories in villages all the way from Ballindaggin up as far as Barndearg, and from Kilmuckridge up as far as Knockananna. I read through the document. There is plenty in it about remote working and rural development. Last Saturday, I was in the lovely village of Carnew in south-west Wicklow. A playground there is still closed. There is a lovely building in the middle of the main street on a prime site, the old Bank of Ireland branch that closed in 2021. Along with one in Tinahely and another in Rathdrum, it was allowed to close and they are all still locked up despite groups and enterprises badly needing spaces. Why is that the case? Ballycanew only got high-speed broadband in mid-2024 thanks to a local group, Whizzy Internet, that stepped in and provided a great service. We all rely on the rural road network but despite all of the damage recently Wicklow is still waiting on €15 million in emergency funding and Wexford is waiting on €20 million. There is not a cent yet. It also still needs €194 million to upgrade the road infrastructure. There are so many areas I could focus on. Glossy documents are pointless without concrete action and timelines. I want to see proper commitment to delivering infrastructure, wastewater treatment and rural housing in north Wexford and south Wicklow. The document means nothing without action and timelines.

Sentiment score: -0.10