Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Westmeath and Roscommon are the two county councils for Athlone. The regional spatial strategy coming from the Western Development Commission and also from the East Midlands Development Commission has nominated Athlone as a growth town. The population is predicted to grow to 30,000 by 2030, which is only a few years away. We are looking at a train station and a bus station.

I take the Minister's point about smart planning. I look at this and I see the Citylink bus that drops people 20 minutes outside Athlone, as opposed to coming in to the town to a purpose-built bus station. I am not sure of any buses that go west in Athlone from the bus station. I think one bus goes to Mayo but there is none coming west of Athlone. I know that there is a wonderful new service to Dundalk but the challenge I have is that Portiuncla University Hospital in Ballinasloe is the main hospital for the town. I have spoken to the Minister about this many times. I believe the cycleway will come.

I have seen the regeneration of the west bank of Athlone and the beautiful new restaurants there. I see it on sunny evenings, when people are sitting out. I see the wonderful waterways around the Shannon that we are using, in Shannonbridge. There were tours and cruise boats heading from Ballinasloe along the River Suck in to Shannonbridge, connecting with the River Shannon. I have buddies who have renovated a barge and are off doing a trip in it now, travelling along the canals and benefiting from the beauty that we have in Ireland on our waterways. Towns like Athlone and Ballinasloe live on the water's edge and we really can see the connectivity between public transport and our waterways and cycleways coming together in those key towns, which is just phenomenal. There is a lot more to do but we have travelled a long way and I am passionate about seeing how much more we can do, particularly around things like the cycleway, local buses, transport and supporting employment and getting people to live in the west. I am focused on the other side of the Shannon but Athlone is a crucial town for us for employment.