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

I thank the witnesses. I was elected to represent County Limerick. I have been involved in construction all my life. I was a councillor for six years before I became a Deputy. What I see from the planning process is that there is very little equality when it comes to planning permission and developments within towns and villages. Under an all-Ireland approach, everyone in this country should have a right to live in the area where they were reared or where they want to live. What is stopping this and many of the planning applications is a lack of infrastructure. There cannot be planning without infrastructure. I have been highlighting the lack of infrastructure for a number of years. I will use County Limerick, which I know best, as an example.

We can look at the example of a place where there is planning permission for 100 houses. That project cannot go ahead because of a lack of infrastructure and the fact that things are not in place. I do not have an issue with either Limerick City and County Council or the planners who work there. They are both very transparent and they want to encourage building. When I carried out a survey of the infrastructure in County Limerick, it showed that 10.7% of towns in Limerick have neglected infrastructure in order to have more development. My analysis showed that the towns in question are located within 25 minutes drive of Limerick city. When you leave the area in question, you will find that infrastructure has not been invested in and that the planning process has come to a stop.

I will give an example of what I am talking about. Adare is located within 12 to 15 minutes of Limerick city. Adare has capacity. A 100-unit development at Croom for which there is planning permission has been held up due to a lack of infrastructure in a certain area, which I will not go into. Kilmallock has infrastructure in place and is located 25 minutes from Limerick city. In Hospital, Kilfinnane and Oola, however, maximum capacity and commitments mean there will be no increase in capacity. The existing system will be upgraded to cater for the capacity that is there but there will be no increase in capacity in the future. That is in east Limerick. In west Limerick, in Dromcolliher, for example, there is no capacity. Newcastle West, which is located 25 minutes from Limerick city, has capacity but out towards Foynes and on to Askeaton - which has been looking for increased capacity from successive Governments for 32 years - and Abbeyfeale, there is no capacity.

Looking at the local development plans and the infrastructure that has been put in place by successive Governments, they have only looked at areas that have capacity and large towns. They have not looked at smaller towns and villages to give people equality and the choice to live in Limerick. Doing so would help to bring down emissions. If there is infrastructure, there is more industry. If there is more industry, there is employment locally and fewer people travelling. Everything seems to be centralised into areas that have capacity.

If that is the case, only one third of towns in Limerick would have capacity, with the rest of the county being left with the exorbitant cost of trying to get good employment in place with no infrastructure. The planning has to start with infrastructure, as well as equality in providing that infrastructure, within our counties. Planning needs to look at the issues with a holistic view, not just focusing on cities and large towns that have capacity but also outside of them, in order that we can give people in other areas within counties their choice to live in a town or village, to seek employment within those areas and to increase industry there.

I have listened to what other members have had to say today and they are all coming from a city approach. I want to ask the witnesses where their county approach is and their plan for people like me, who live in rural areas. I live eight minutes from a bypass and can be in Limerick city within 20 minutes. However, when I look around me, I see no forward planning for growing towns and villages. None of them has infrastructure and there is no plan for infrastructure, which means there is no plan going forward for equality for everyone in Ireland. I would like one of the witnesses to address that question.