Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One can have all the stats and all the reports. The national planning framework is a bad business. I do not accept the national planning framework people. Who are they? It is all jobs for the boys - retired county managers and retired senior officials. There are very few ordinary people, like shopkeepers or small business people from Tipperary, Kerry, Cork or any other place. No, they will not be consulted at all. They will just pay up or shut up. We have reviewed the race now in Tipperary, all over the county. We are going to put up. We have proud towns, such as Carrick-on-Suir. Clonmel had a budget of €15 million. Now we do not have a shilling. The Minister of State is talking about municipal districts being good. They are not good. They are a disaster. They are too big. The towns are being neglected. We are trying to spread it too thinly and end up with nothing for anyone. Cashel Town Council was there for centuries, where the high kings of Munster sat. We had Roscrea, Templemore and Nenagh and now what have we? We had no town council in Cahir, but we had a block grant every year for the town. You have raped and plundered, and I hate using that word in this context, and you continue to do it. This motion is an effort to correct the imbalance. We want to have a debate here, not just with your slippery, slimy amendments. With the confidence and supply agreement, Fianna Fáil and the Government have proposed two amendments to try to put manners on us and tell us to lie down. We will not lie down and the people of Ireland will not lie down. We will be back agus beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach.

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