Infrastructure is the key to getting this country working for people. For too many people, Ireland is not working. When we look at the flooding yesterday and the traffic gridlock across the city and around the commuter belt, people are literally losing years of their lives because of the lack of investment in infrastructure. The Government, in its plans and pronouncements, can blame planning, judicial reviews, local authorities and even the population and immigrants, but the barrier is this Government not investing sufficiently in infrastructure following decade after decade of under-investment. Public transport is inadequate and rail networks are not good enough. In my constituency, the Luas Finglas line is ready to go but has been delayed. Why are shovel-ready projects being delayed? It is absolutely unacceptable. Alongside building homes, we need community infrastructure. Homes do not build communities by themselves. What builds communities are parks, playgrounds, community centres and swimming pools, the social infrastructure that has to go in. In my constituency, in Ballymun and Finglas, people are crying out for community infrastructure. In Finglas, in particular, there are derelict buildings lying idle that could be bought by the council and turned into community buildings. The council cannot do so, however, because it does not have the funding. The Government is talking about all this record funding but when we drill down, councils do not have the funding to deliver the community infrastructure that is needed. We need a step change in how we invest in our public services and public infrastructure. The Minister has a budget surplus. It should be allocated to that infrastructure.

Sentiment score: -0.19