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

Sixty seconds is insufficient time to explain the potential crisis and problem which will affect not only my county of Kildare but also County Wicklow and the Minister of State's home county, Meath. The draft plan indicates that 53% of all growth in County Kildare will be in the northern metropolitan part of north Kildare but I wish to address Newbridge and south Kildare. Newbridge is the economic and trading centre of the county but it needs a mechanism to allow it to grow and develop sustainably as a town. We want an opportunity for the people of the six towns, 32 villages and 18 settlements of south Kildare to live, obtain employment, have access to services such as schools and have communities. However, this plan will stymie growth. Under the plan, only slightly more than 8,000 residential units may be built in south Kildare up to 2032. That number has already been exceeded in planning for Newbridge and County Kildare. The plan is ridiculous. It will push up the price of housing, ensure that we will not have affordable housing at a time of great crisis and prevent development of the infrastructure needed in south Kildare.

See this speech in context