Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Not that it has anything to do with anything, but at the same time as we are told to do it, I want to declare that I have been the owner of a small petrol station for many years.

Mr. Nolan spoke about motorway services. I am grateful to and thank those involved in the private sector. I am thinking of the Fitzpatricks, Pat McDonagh and others who have done great work in providing services where TII or its predecessors did not see fit to do so, because of which people had to travel many miles on motorways without having anywhere to stop. I take grave exception to the following which I am reading from a newspaper:

Documents on file with Wicklow county council show TII lobbied against the development by fuel retailer Applegreen of facilities on the M11 near Ashford in county Wicklow. Documents on file with Clare county council show the authority lobbied against similar facilities near the Ennis bypass which had been proposed by Mr. Pat McDonagh, developer of the Barack Obama Plaza along the M7 in county Offaly. The letters show TII raised issues with county planners in each instance, including the fact that it was working on submitting plans for its own service areas.

Regarding Clare county council, the report reads:

Records from last year show TII saying 'it is considered premature to grant planning permission' for Mr. McDonagh’s proposed development near the Ennis bypass. TII reminded the council of its own plan for services on a site between Ennis and Sixmilebridge.