Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This motion outlines the serious gaps in infrastructure in this State. Fianna Fáil will be well acquainted with the issue, as it was in government for decades and did not bother with long-term, sustainable planning and development. After it bankrupted the country, another decade passed without investment in infrastructure. This was a policy decision by Labour and Fine Gael to punish ordinary people for the financial disaster created by the State and the banks. Instead of investing to encourage economic growth to provide a decent quality of life for our people, the Government cut spending on services and on capital spend. We now find ourselves way behind other modern European countries. Our infrastructure is still lacking, and we are now at a stage where the State cannot even house families. We have 100,000 people on housing lists.

I mention all this because it is relevant to the motion. It is just a motion, not a Bill and, therefore, it will achieve nothing. It is all very well to call for investment in various areas, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil appear to be incapable of delivering anything, whether in government separately or together, as they are today. Project Ireland 2040 appears to be an aspirational PR initiative. It is likely that most of its commitments will go undelivered, like previous strategies with fine PR exercises lying on the shelf gathering dust.

Sinn Féin is in favour of investing in infrastructure. We need to invest to allow for sustainable economic growth to promote strong communities and balanced regional development, and for accessibility. We need to do it in a way that is economically beneficial to the State, sustainable, and in keeping with our emissions targets. As Britain prepares to leave the EU, we need to Brexit-proof this State. We need to ensure that we have adequate transport links with the European continent via sea and air to ensure our economic and social relationships are maintained. A good start would be to continue to invest in cross-Border and Border projects such as the A5 and Narrow Water Bridge. We also have to invest in our regional ports and airports to ensure optimum international transport links in a post-Brexit EU. This will boost the connectivity of the regions, which are not experiencing an economic recovery, to allow for economic growth as well as growth in tourism. To support our regional airports, we must prioritise rail and road links to realise their potential and to ensure balanced regional development. Sinn Féin is also in favour of the development of strategic development zones around key regional airports.

When it comes to Brexit, my own constituency of Louth is in a Border county, and I would urge specific investment in the Border region. We cannot be like the British Conservative Party and keep our heads in the sand. We have to invest and prepare for Brexit. Drogheda port needs significant investment and it is vital that we get the go-ahead for the port to access the northern cross route if the town is going to develop economically in the way that it should.

The west and north west have been utterly neglected by successive Governments. The exclusion by the previous Government of projects in the west and north west from the TEN-T submission was shameful. The Taoiseach ensured that the western rail corridor and the upgrade of Galway and Sligo airports were deleted from an EU-wide transport programme in 2011. The Government talks about regional development, but actively works against it. The motion calls for a review of the TEN-T network ahead of the 2023 due date. That is a reasonable ambition, and no one would argue otherwise. However, there is a commitment in the programme for partnership Government to apply to the EU for the revision of the TEN-T core network within three months of the formation of government. Fianna Fáil is now a part of this partnership Government. Why is it calling on its partners in government to implement agreed policy? This is ridiculous. It is appearing in the House with a motion as if it is not a part of the Government; it is playing at being the Opposition. The party knows that a motion has no legal standing and is not worth the paper it is written on. It should stop taking people for fools, because they can see through this. They see Fianna Fáil coming from a mile away.

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