Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on what is a hugely significant plan for our country, Project Ireland 2040. As chairman of the Fine Gael Party, I am immensely proud of the contribution my colleagues in Fine Gael have made to it, from the Ministers sitting at Cabinet - this was very much an all-Government approach by our partnership Government - to our Fine Gael Deputies and Senators. We had many long, tortuous meetings of our parliamentary party where we discussed at great length all the different aspects of both the national planning framework and the national development plan and how all of that has come together now in Project Ireland 2040. We did so not because we are parochial about our individual constituencies and counties but because we all care passionately about our country and a development that will be planned and that we will see happen in a structured way.

For the first time in the history of the State, our special plan will be backed up by solid investment in terms of a €116 billion capital plan, all of which will be underpinned by legislation. That means the plan we put in place will be followed through, that it will be implemented on a day-by-day, case-by-case basis and that it will have money to back it up. Such an approach should ensure that we learn from the mistakes of the past when previous development plans failed to deliver structured development of our country. Whether it was the bungalow blitz of the 1980s or the sprawl of Dublin during the Celtic tiger years, our country has been failed by not sticking to the plans that were drawn up or working to plans that were more designed on the electoral cycle than on the long-term vision we have introduced here.

For my county of Kildare, the plan is vital. Due to our mix of urban and rural areas, as the Ceann Comhairle is all too familiar with, and our close proximity to Dublin, this plan is about stopping the sprawl of Dublin, making sure that its density increases to a higher density, that the brownfield infill will happen and that Kildare, Meath and Wicklow do not become suburbs of Dublin. That is crucial.

For Kildare, a new acute mental health unit for Lakeview is imperative. Currently, capacity is at 140% in the Lakeview unit. The then Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy McEntee, allocated €5.5 million to Lakeview in late 2016 for the improvement of the infrastructure in that unit, as the Ceann Comhairle is aware. However, that would only provide an additional eight beds and a high observation unit. The point that I and the management made was that this was not enough. We need to grow the capacity. As the Ceann Comhairle is all too aware, Kildare people must go to Portlaoise, Tallaght and St. James' hospitals to overflow beds because we cannot cater for those who have acute mental health needs in Kildare, never mind the community support and step-down facilities that are needed also.

A few months after that, I brought the then Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy McEntee, to Naas to meet with the senior management in Lakeview, Donal O'Hanlon and Paul Brophy, and the team. I brought the Minister of State's successor, the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to Lakeview as recently as last December to impress upon him the need for a new build. We now have that in our plan. That new development is crucial and as you are aware, a Cheann Comhairle, the Lakeview unit currently adjoins Naas General Hospital and the ability of that unit to be a new space that could allow us increase the capacity in Naas General Hospital is crucial also. That represents joined-up thinking. There is reference in the national action plan, Project Ireland 2040, to 600 new acute beds to be delivered throughout the country by 2040. We will have an existing building adjoining Naas General Hospital and should be able to deliver that additional capacity much sooner.

When we talk about our health service, and Naas General Hospital, we need to be aware that the population of Kildare has grown by 100,000 in the past 30 years, so we should not be surprised that there are people on trolleys. There are massive capacity issues in Naas General Hospital, as there are even today. The way we address that is by providing those additional beds and additional space, and a key component of that was the endoscopy unit that was announced for Naas General Hospital. That key element was very close to being delivered in 2011 but was then shelved. That had a devastating impact on the hospital, our health care services and waiting lists in Kildare. The endoscopy unit is back on track. It has planning permission. It needs to be able to go out to tender. It has only two years left on its planning permission and I will continue to push for that to be delivered, as I pushed for it to be in this national development plan. It is a crucial development to ensure that Naas General Hospital's position within the hospital grouping is secured and has a strong foundation into the future.

In terms of our road infrastructure, there has been criticism in the House and in the media of some projects on the list that are progressed. The idea that we would announce a national capital development plan and not reference the need to widen the M7 motorway or a ring road for Athy is ludicrous. People would say, "Where is it?". In terms of it being progressed, we are accused by the Opposition that this is a negative development. However, the fact that we progressed the southern distributor route for Athy during a recession was crucial. We got that funding when there was no money in the country to bring that road through to planning stage - the planning permission we now have - and within a few months, we will have diggers on site in Athy, as the Ceann Comhairle is aware, because it is something he fought for also. I will not take any criticism for the fact that the ring road for Athy and the M7 are progressed. They were progressed when the country had no money. Imagine what we can do now with a growing economy as we continue to grow jobs and increase development.

Similarly, the reason there are so many people sitting in their cars on the M7, which we need to widen, is because of the failed policies of the past. Many constituents from Kildare and Laois commute to Dublin every day. The ease with which they can get there is important but having locally developed jobs and industry in our area so that all of those people do not have to commute is crucial also. That is at the heart of Project Ireland 2040.

Other areas such as the €100 million for large-scale sports capital infrastructure development is crucial. I very much hope our county grounds in St. Conleth's Park, Newbridge, can access some of that money. It desperately needs a new, modern stand. We have one of the poorest county grounds in the country but want to have one of the best because we are a very proud GAA county. I hope that Kildare GAA will benefit from that fund, as will all of the many clubs that have benefitted in recent years from sports capital grants. The commitment of a sports capital grants in the coming years is also crucial.

The situation in our health sector is telling. In 2011, no hospitals were being built. By the time this plan is finished, we will be constructing ten hospitals, three of which are under way already. That is crucial. When people talk about waiting lists, it is down to capacity. It is also down to our primary care centres, planning for one of which in Athy we hope to be applying for very soon. Those are the developments we want to roll out. St. Vincent's Hospital, Athy was one of the 90 community care facilities that we also want to see upgraded and its capacity increased. It should be a building fit for modern day use due to the great care it provides.

Project Ireland 2040 covers many different areas. A rural regeneration and development fund will provide an additional €1 billion. There will be investment in our towns, villages and outlying rural areas. That will be on top of existing funding, such as the town and village renewal scheme and all the rest. The €2 billion urban regeneration fund will significantly benefit large rural towns of over 10,000 people of which there are 41 in the country. Newbridge, in Kildare, will have the potential to access this funding and that will allow it to be an even greater driver in our local economy and provide the jobs that all the people who live in Kildare need. They will not have to travel to Dublin for high-quality jobs.

There is a €8.4 billion allocation for a school building programme between 2018 and 2027 to deliver an annual average of 20,000 permanent school places a year. That is desperately needed. We need extra provision in school places at second level, in particular for children with special needs in our mainstream schools. We urgently need progress on the planned extensions to Athy community college, the Cross and Passion College, Kilcullen, St. Conleth's community college and Patrician, Newbridge as well, but the broader issues of future provision beyond that is crucial also. We need to see progress on that. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, has now been given the money to move that on and I look forward to the results of ongoing demographic surveys. I stay in touch with Department officials and continue to highlight the need for certainty for parents that they will have that provision and those school places about which there is a great deal of anxiety, with which the Ceann Comhairle is all too familiar.

Broadband was mentioned earlier.

There is no doubt in my mind that the 19% of premises in south Kildare which depend on the national broadband plan really need it. I have been in consultation and raised the matter with the Minister, Deputy Naughten, on the floor of the House within only the past few weeks. The national broadband plan must be given every chance to work and if it does not, we need a plan B. The reason we are at 19% is that the national broadband plan has driven the private sector to roll out commercial broadband over the past five years to 74% of premises in the county while in the coming period commercial broadband will be provided to the remaining 7% as part of Eir's 300,000. The existence of the national broadband plan has driven the €2.75 billion investment by the private sector to roll out commercial broadband over the past five years. If the plan had not been in existence and if we had not had a tender process, the commercial sector would have been a lot slower to deliver that.

It is not possible to get to every element of Project Ireland 2040 in the ten minutes I have been given.

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