Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)

I have never been involved in a council so find it difficult to get a grasp of planning procedures. In the past ten or 20 years, we have gone from being an island that for 80 or 90 years had a small business outlook and a narrow approach to an island with a big economy, which is welcome. Only when one visits other places like London or Paris does one recognise that we are still in our infancy in terms of development. We must plan well into the future and, whether Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats are in Government or Fine Gael, we must co-operate so that we continue to develop and can be proud of the facilities we have, be they hospitals, roads, schools, playgrounds etc. While we might differ in some ways, we must ensure that infrastructure is put in place without an unduly lengthy planning process.

Whether it be in Meath, Dublin or any other county, we seem to build everything on top of everything else. The opening of the Ashbourne bypass has created problems in Slane. It is now easy to get through Ashbourne but traffic jams at the cemetery in Slane cause delays that add an hour to the rest of the journey. Nobody could have envisaged that this country would progress in the way it has, but it is a fact and it is crucial that it continues to progress. For the sake of the people and their families who have invested in expensive houses, everybody should work as a team to ensure it does not come to an end.

We must adopt a broader approach and provide the country with an adequate road structure that enables drivers to get to and from destinations quickly. I can drive from some parts of Meath, such as Slane, to the Dáil in an hour and a half, but if I drove in from Navan through Dunshaughlin, I might not arrive until the next day. It is unfortunate that the planning process seems to have come to a halt. The two projects were begun at the same time and one, which was opened by the Taoiseach last week, has been completed with €30 million to spare. We sincerely hope that money will be put toward a bypass of Slane.

In every other county we appear to have to build everything in corners. With farming in decline, there is a considerable amount of land to be developed. In Boston in the US, workplaces seem to have migrated to the country and people drive to work. No one is to blame because nobody could have envisaged the country's economic growth, with emigration turning to immigration and an extra 1 million people predicted to be living here by 2015. To prepare for those future developments, however, we must be ruthless in our thinking. When I was first elected to the Dáil I was told that I would have no input into planning, which is true because Members of the Oireachtas cannot serve as councillors. Nonetheless, one can make phone calls to inquire and most of our work is taken up with planning. Every Sunday morning I spend two or three hours looking at different sites in the county for young people who are seeking planning permission. Deputies represent the people so they should be able to determine what kind of a country we want through the planning process by making representations for someone who wishes to build a house or a factory. What annoys me most, however — I have no doubt it is the same in other counties — is that if one does it the right way by having a pre-planning meeting with the planners and going through the normal funding structures, by the time it comes to submitting the planning application the person one has dealt with may have moved on. This must be examined, particularly in County Meath where there is a massive amount of planning. Unfortunately, personnel changes mean nobody knows who they are dealing with or they cannot get to deal with anyone because people have moved on and their successor will need three or four months to study what has happened.

New factories should be located in the countryside so that more jobs will be located where new roads are being built. There are vast tracts of land on both sides of the M1. It may not happen in my lifetime but I have no doubt that at some stage Dublin and Dundalk will be joined up. Rather than having housing in country areas, work should be created by locating factories there. The new port will be ready and we will have new railway links to Drogheda, Navan and Kingscourt. The Navan-Kingscourt line is intact and was previously used to transport gypsum. For some unknown reason, whether it was a strike in Iarnród Éireann or whatever happened, that line has been lying idle. Infrastructural planning in these areas, using such transport links, will ensure that the building industry will continue to flourish. Construction is our number one industry and one in every three men is employed in that sector. If anything happened to that industry, the emigrant ships would be sailing again, whether Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin or Labour were in charge. If that happened, immigrants would return home and Irish people who have taken out large mortgages would have to consider their options. For those reasons, this Bill is probably the most important to come before the House concerning the development of the country. Ireland is still small and Dublin is only a village compared to other capital cities, so we need not say the city is big enough and has developed as much as it can.

I would like to see realistic plans being put in place, unlike those for the new hospital they are talking about in the north east. I do not understand why it should take nine years to build such a hospital. If one has planning permission on a suitable site, one can build straight away. In nine years' time, however, it will be too late for all the people in the north-east. As it is, we are downgrading the existing hospitals in that area and no money will be invested in them. Many people who could have benefited from a new hospital will be dead in ten years. It could be any of us. Whatever measures are being taken, they should ensure that the proper development strategy is put in place.

Planning and development should be the primary aspect of the legislation. Sometimes, one is better off with a local person who has a better idea on how things should be done than with a top-class planner sitting in an office all day who dictates how it should be done. When the latter method is used nobody knows where they are going.

I welcome some aspects of the Bill. Everyone talks about his own county when it comes to planning issues. On the east coast, nearly 25,000 people are living in the Bettystown, Laytown, Donnycarney and Duleek areas where we have had nothing but houses. There are absolutely no sports facilities and the schools resemble West Bank settlements with nothing but prefabs. I do not wish to be critical of that but money is being spent in bits and pieces. On budget day we are told that all the money we have in the bank is still there, yet people only want simple things such as a proper school for their children and a proper health service. They also want to get from A to B in the shortest time. I do not see much point in holding on to money from one budget to the next. If the money is there it should be spent on the people.

The sooner we broaden the horizons of our education system the better. We all heard the statistics this morning showing that class sizes are exceeding 30 pupils and many classes are held in prefabs. If we can build 300 houses in Laytown, Nobber or Moynalty, new schools should be built nearby together with sports facilities.

Yesterday, the chief executive of the FAI said that sports facilities must be built for men and women to use. Girls must have the same opportunities as boys. I was disgusted by the conditions children have to put up with in some schools. I visited one school in Julianstown which has a 25-year-old prefabricated building. The windows and safety exit are blocked and it is rat infested. I will not start blaming anyone but the Taoiseach or some of his Ministers should be aware of what is going on. Expenditure should not be in bits and pieces. We have the best economy in the world but we should have the best public services also. We built the roads in England and ran America through John F. Kennedy. When we have money in the bank here at home we should not be afraid to spend it on building schools, roads and hospitals. At the end of the day, that is all people want.

The wheeling and dealing that goes on at council level is a funny system. I am glad that I was never involved in it and I do not want to become involved. One just wonders about it at times. Every road must the treated in the same way. People are being killed on all roads. Some 30% of all those accidentally killed die because of poor roads and bad road signs. At the next election, Fine Gael will make this an issue and will seek to make county councils responsible for roads in their areas. An independent audit of roads must be undertaken so that dangerous bends and other hazards can be dealt with. Crossroads must be properly signposted.

I live near the N52 and after doing a bit of work at night in the pub, I find that, come snow or frost, the road is lit up on both sides with yellow markings and in the centre. One can never get lost on that road. Investing in road markings can reduce accidents. More than 740 people were killed in the past six years because of bad roads. There is a great deal of trouble with drink driving, which we can see every day. Travelling to Roscommon last weekend, I saw motorcyclists passing me at high speed. Speeding and drink driving must be curtailed. Regardless of who is in charge, that is the responsibility of the Government. Local councils of whatever political composition must first put in place proper roads. Roads in every county must be properly sign-posted and crossroads must be properly maintained, especially at this time of year. I know a man who is due in court today for cutting grass on a roadside after being asked to do so by his parish priest. It is crucial that grass around signs at crossroads is cut at this time of year because many accidents have occurred in recent weeks.

Given the funding available, we must work together to ensure a road structure is put in place and that more factories are not located in Dublin. To enter Dublin, one must follow lorry after lorry. We must be like Boston and like other cities. We must locate new factories and employment in the countryside — on the M1, the M3, when it is built, and in Cork and Kerry — but not in the cities. The cities should be places where people can visit, with offices and Government buildings.

Some wonder why people are not going to Croke Park at present. It was the biggest mistake ever made by the GAA — I am a GAA man myself — because people can no longer afford to go to Croke Park. It is usually empty and the only time it will be full is for concerts and for the two all-Ireland days when it will be filled with GAA people. This is because it was built in the middle of a city, where parking is not available, when it should have been built on the outskirts of a city, close to a major road, as was done in Paris. People could then get in and out of the ground in ten minutes.

These factors must be considered. It is never too late. We still have the resources, the jobs and a Government. Please God, we will have a different Government next year. Between us all, we will build a country in the same way our people built London, America and other countries. We will have the finest country in the world, with a proper structure of roads, schools and sports facilities for all our children. It is sports facilities that keep children away from the drugs and crime that have been a problem over the years.

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