Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share time with Deputy Margaret Conlon.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is an opportune time for us to reflect on and review our policies on young people and to outline positive policy initiatives for the future. In particular, it is an opportunity for someone like me, who represents one of the fastest growing communities in the country, to highlight the specific challenges young people face in areas such as Kildare North. It is almost a cliché to say young people have contributed to our economic success. However, one of the key reasons Ireland been successful in attracting foreign direct investment is the young, educated and skilled workforce on offer. While we should never look on our youth merely as a financial resource, it is important to recognise the contribution of our young people and educational infrastructure, which helped transform the country which was previously bedevilled by high unemployment and poor economic outlook to a modern vibrant and successful economy.

As we reflect on that success and put policies in place to harness the best from our young people, areas that have experienced considerable residential development, without matching community and social infrastructure, must be considered to assess how best we can retrofit these facilities. Kildare North, with towns such as Maynooth, Naas, Celbridge, Clane and Kilcock, has experienced significant population growth in recent years. Many young people live in these towns and have or are about to have young families. A significant proportion have families of teenage age and require fit for purpose community facilities to ensure they will have a positive focal point for engagement through sports, music, drama, art or social interaction in café bars. We are expected to set policy guidelines that will offer the best chance of extracting what is most positive from our youth.

This is the main issue I would like to address in my contribution, as it is specific to Kildare North which has witnessed rapid growth without matching community facilities. It is important to put this issue in context. In recent years significant funds have been invested in sports facilities in County Kildare. Almost every sports club has benefited in one form or another from the sports capitation grant allocations or the Kildare sports partnership. Significant investment in school extensions or new schools to match the increasing demand for places has taken place. In addition, progress has been made in reducing the pupil-teacher ratio which was helped by the introduction of the developing schools status. However, in constituencies such as Kildare North the challenge is to ensure new development is strengthened and complements existing or new communities. We all accept that new developments need to comprise more than houses. It is essential that schools, community facilities, employment, transport and amenities are integrated with the housing development process in a timely, cost effective and sustainable manner. Joined-up government across the local and national spectrum can facilitate the emergence of sustainable, integrated communities as we continue to expand.

I welcome the Government's commitment to allocate €150 million to a community development fund in the next five years to build the infrastructure required to sustain communities. I will press the Government to ensure County Kildare obtains its fair share of this funding.

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