Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will speak first. I will start with the matter of directly elected mayors. There was a democratic vote in Limerick and I will accept that. Was I in favour of it? The answer is "No". At the time we had a perfectly good CEO who brought Limerick from being in a very poor state to being extremely viable. That individual was working well but has now left. We have another CEO in place now who is equally as good.

It has been worked out that having a directly elected mayor will, in the context of salaries, office back-up, drivers and a car, cost €500,000. The Government said it will subsidise the position for the first two years, after which the local authority will have to work the cost into its budget. I would get a lot of work done with €500,000, using the same CEO and with a mayor elected in the usual way by councillors. In Limerick, €500,000 would go a long way in the context of work we need to get done. I accept the democratic vote, however. I will be putting my thoughts forward on it.

An application for planning permission in respect of an old fever hospital in Limerick that is due to be knocked down was submitted. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage did not make any comment on the matter, even though the county council sought for it to make a request for further information. An Taisce did not make a comment on the matter either. The building in question is listed. The HSE said that it needs to make room for car parking at the site of that historical building, even though the local area plan allows for seven acres on an adjacent site to be used for car parking. Again, however, the Department with responsibility for heritage did not make any comment on the matter. I am disappointed about that.

The Land Development Agency, LDA, is only building houses in the city. I presume that everyone at this meeting knows I am from County Limerick. The LDA does not cover anything in the county. I proud to be a culchie and I will always be a culchie. That is one thing of which I am proud. The LDA does nothing for me in my area of the county.

The Minister stated that it is a fundamental right to own a house. Yes, it is. It is also a fundamental right for a person to own a house in the area in which he or she grew up. I am the son of a farmer but I am not a farmer myself. I have four sons who are not farmers but I am hoping that perhaps one or two of them might want to remain in the area. The rest of them might want to move away. I want to give them the right, however, to come home to the place of their birth and settle in the area in which they grew up.

The select committee discussed infrastructure at its meeting earlier. As I stated during that meeting, 73% of housing in Limerick is at full capacity and there is only 27% left . The area of Limerick is never going to be covered when it comes to infrastructure. Anyone who was born in the county and who builds a one-off house has to put in the most up-to-date sewerage system. This has to be done under the guidelines from the EPA and the environmental section of the council. It also has to be done because there is no infrastructure in place.

I do not want to live in the city. I was not born in the city but I respect people who live in or want to move to the city. One must also respect the people who live in the county. I have lived in the county all my life. I would like to see my family and grandchildren given the choice to come home if they want to do so. It is a fundamental right that they should be allowed to return to the place of their birth or where they grew up. Everyone should be afforded that right. The 2040 plan does not allow for that but it must do so. Equally, the Government is trying to move people into the cities and I just mentioned the funding that is coming to Limerick from the LDA. Yes; it covers the city. However, it does not cover the towns, villages or rural areas that I represent. That is a fundamental right to me. It is my culture and heritage and it is where I grew up. That needs to be addressed in the 2040 plan.