Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 20, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:

“ “Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy” means the strategy which sets out the framework for the delivery of the transport system of the Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area;”.

Amendment No. 20 simply proposes to insert a definition of the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy, LSMATS, in the Bill. This is fundamentally about recognising the strategy in the legislation. It should be seen as more than a transport strategy. It is a development strategy for the vast growth of not just Limerick city and county, but also the mid-west region. It discusses developing the rail network in the region and opening up new sites for development, connecting Shannon Airport to the railway network and new stations in places such as Ballysimon and Lisnagry with park-and-ride facilities, as well as Raheen, where 7,000 or 8,000 people work. It also discusses a new station in Moyross and several other places. It is more than a transport strategy and is critically important for the development of Limerick and the whole region. It is key to making our region the counterbalance to the Dublin metropolitan region. There is an incredible imbalance with which the Minister of State will agree. I would like the LSMATS prescribed in the Bill because of its importance and to give the mayor, whoever they may be, in their first, second or third term and into the future, the mandate and power to negotiate with central government because it is an incredibly ambitious plan. If it is not treated with seriousness in this legislation and if the mayor is not given the mandate and responsibility to pursue the implementation of the strategy, it could easily be sidelined. That would be to the great cost of Limerick and the mid-west.

I would like it to be treated with the importance it deserves within the Bill. I do not want it to be sidelined. It is that important. All of those amendments are about enshrining the LSMATS in the Bill. The strategy is critical for the region.