Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In recent years, citizens, communities and businesses have been living with the legacy of a failure of policy on spatial planning at national, regional and local level. While progress has been made, it has been patchy and in some cases wasteful of scarce resources. A number of steps must be taken urgently, one of which is to reform the planning system to meet the new challenges we face. The Government must show real ambition in infrastructural investment and access funds for public private partnerships to ensure that whatever form the national planning framework eventually takes, it is backed up by genuine resources.

The issue of procurement must also be addressed as a matter of urgency. I was shocked to learn recently that the procurement process for vital infrastructure, including housing, takes up to two years to complete. If this is not a crisis, I do not know what is.

To be effective, the national planning framework must be placed at the top of the hierarchy of plans and its goals must be reflected throughout the planning process, down to local area plans. We cannot overestimate the importance of having a proper, sustainable, practical and ambitious planning framework statement. This statement should and will guide the future development of the country, taking into account a projected increase in population and the need to create more jobs, achieve full employment and provide more homes, schools and hospitals.

I note that 25% of the projected increase in the population will be in Dublin. It is appropriate that Dublin should be recognised as the key international city of scale and the principal driver of economic growth. However, this presents a major problem for surrounding counties, particularly Kildare, Wicklow and Meath. All too often, these counties are dragged into the larger Dublin metropolitan area and it is forgotten that they have their own needs. They also have much to offer and they deserve to be able to build on this. They must be treated as areas in their own right. It is projected that 50% of growth outside Dublin will be in key regional centres, which is appropriate, and regional plans must be drawn up to address this issue.

County Kildare is home to the Defence Forces' headquarters and a large part of the horse industry. It is known as the thoroughbred country and is recognised both here and abroad as the premier county for horse-breeding, training and racing. Kildare is also home to Bord na Móna and people in the county are very proud of where they live. The county has a mix of urban and rural areas and we will fight hard to ensure this continues to be the case.

There is a perception that County Kildare is wealthy. Just today, one of my colleagues spoke about the lovely main roads that run through the county. All too often, people traversing its main roads en route to other counties do not see the heartland of Kildare. We need substantial investment in our roads. The county has 2,528 km of road, for which we had a budget of €18 million for maintenance this year. This is not nearly sufficient. To cite an example, subsidence on Coughlanstown Road, which runs between Ballymore Eustace and Kilcullen, cut off a vital artery between these two rural towns 13 months ago. It would cost €4 million to repair the road. I have spoken to the Minister about this case on several occasions and he gave a commitment to meet the local community, although no such meeting has taken place. The Department repeatedly states that Kildare County Council must find, from its own resources, the funding required to rebuild the road. This is practically impossible as it would require almost 25% of the county's annual budget for 2,528 km of road. Meanwhile, the local school and businesses are suffering. For example, people living 500 m. from the school must drive 9 km to reach it. Issues such as this must be addressed in the national planning framework.

Two weeks ago, we learned that planning approval had been granted for the southern distributor road in Athy. This is a very welcome decision as this is an extremely important project. However, the Government has not yet provided the funding of €35 million required to complete the project, which will provide a vital lifeline for the town. Recently, I facilitated a meeting in Athy with representatives of IDA Ireland who highlighted this project as one of the issues that would help deliver jobs to the town. I remind the House that Athy is an unemployment black spot, with a 35% unemployment rate among a certain age cohort. This issue must be addressed.

Closer to home, Newbridge needs funding for its link road. Almost all Deputies are familiar with Newbridge, which is a fine town. However, despite the rapid growth in its population, which currently stands at almost 30,000, the town can only be accessed by one road which crosses a bridge.

Every county development plan we have had over the past 50 years has signified the intention and aspiration to build another bridge and to have other roads coming into our town. This has never happened and there are no plans for it to happen, but it is a priority for our county and something I certainly would like to see addressed in the final plan.

Kildare has the lowest level of provision across a range of service levels. It has the highest number of young people under the age of 24 in the country so there is huge need for youth facilities and amenity lands. I have spoken about the challenges we have as a county with urban areas and a constituency with towns like Newbridge, Kildare and Athy, but small towns and villages like Monasterevin, Rathangan, Castledermot, Athgarvan, Milltown, Allenwood, Derrinturn and Carbury deserve support and proper linkages. Earlier this morning, I met with Local Link Kildare, which has great capacity to address some of the transport issues we face. If it had a third extra funding, it would be able to run that service from 8 a.m. to midnight, thereby promoting connectivity, which is hugely important. A total of 50% of the population in Kildare that is working does so outside the county, many of them in Dublin. Unfortunately, while we have a good train service in three of our towns, it still leaves a lot to be desired, particularly around pricing. I met with the NTA yesterday to discuss this issue. Unfortunately, we are pushing too many people into cars. Surely we must get away from that.

We need to improve the lives of those working and living in our rural communities. We need to ensure the success of vibrant rural communities across my county and the rest of the country. This means supporting the creation of jobs, bringing high-speed broadband, which is crucial, to every home and business and revitalising our towns and villages. We need strategies that will support and empower our citizens in their local towns, villages and environs to build on their strengths. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to our counties and towns. We have a diverse and varied country. We need innovation and to be able to support indigenous enterprise. We need to both encourage indigenous enterprise and increase FDI, including pilot schemes in our areas. Much needs to be done and a good deal of consultation needs to carried out. I support my colleagues in saying that the deadline for submissions needs to be extended so that we can consult with the people who live in the areas that will be impacted by this plan.

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